


Intergalactic Relations

by writewithurheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexuality, Canon Rewrite, Darcy Lewis-centric, F/M, Gen, Minor Original Character(s), Missing Scene, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, Tags May Change, What-If, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2020-11-10 14:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 58,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20853611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writewithurheart/pseuds/writewithurheart
Summary: Darcy Lewis is a Poli Sci major through and through, but after meeting Thor, she may have gone off the deep end with her thesis topic.What if Darcy applied her experiences in New Mexico to her love of politics?





	1. Intergalactic Relations

**Author's Note:**

> Darcy Lewis is my favorite side character in the MCU and I was reading a story that mentioned looking for more fics centered around her going back to the beginning and I just started thinking about what would have happened to her after Thor in regards to her major and what it could have led to. I hope you enjoy the story!

Darcy frowned at the final product of her Intergalactic Policy paper as the cursor blinked on her screen. It was the thesis paper to end all thesis papers. It outlined the best possible scenarios for visitors from other worlds, the response systems the U.N. should have in place, the structure that should be implemented now so that when visitors from another world came, Earth would be prepared. 

It was composed, full of all the political savvy she had learned in the last four years and the things she had learned during her internship in Puente Antigo. She had met aliens for Thor’s sake. She knew how important intergalactic relations would be in the coming years. But she sounded like a crackpot. 

She had emailed the draft to her advisor from the car dealership while Jane frantically tried tracking Thor’s rainbow bridge. Her advisor had returned with questions:  _ was it a satire piece? Had the heat gotten to her head? Maybe it’s better if you come back to Culver now.  _

Now she has two drafts on her computer: this polished proposal for the formation of an Intergalactic Relations Commission to deal with non-terrestrial beings and a possible global response team; and a paper on Universal Healthcare and its potential ramifications on United States political landscape. 

The Healthcare paper is the one fully endorsed by her advisor. It has the well argued zeal of any other political discourse and probably sounds like what any other aspiring politician in her graduating class would write. It’s a guaranteed pass, or as close to it as she can get. It might even be good enough to publish somewhere or catch the eye of some mediocre political advisor. 

The Intergalactic Relations paper is Jane levels of crazy. It verges on tin-hat-wearing UFO-chasing insanity. It’s a complete divergence from her prior focus of United States politics. It focuses on a heretofore undiscovered area of thought. The world is not prepared for interacting with intelligent life. It’s the subject of sci-fi movies where humanity bands together for the greater good of the human race. But the possibility is still so far-fetched she would be better off talking about Mole People. 

(In her defence, the same policy would be easily adapted for Mole People even if they are Intraterrestrial instead of Extraterrestrial.) 

It’s on par with Jane using Astrophysics to look for Einstein-Rosen Bridges, just with Political Science and Aliens. Her advisor had admitted that her policies were groundbreaking in their application, if a bit extreme. Her SHIELD NDAs prohibited her from speaking about her person experience with both friendly and hostile aliens. 

Her advisor flat out told her that the content of the essay wouldn’t contradict how outlandish it was. She would be lucky to get a job in politics, let alone a good one. The paper would only ever be viewed as satire. It would never be published. 

But she wanted to submit it as her thesis. 

Jane was rubbing off on her. 

Darcy groans and drops her head on her desk. Before Thor, this would be a joke she outlined with her friends during drunk political discussions. After Thor, the threat was real. They were living in a world where intelligent life  _ had _ been to Earth. And the Men in Black had covered it up. 

She vaguely wonders if Agent Ipod was still monitoring her emails. 

Then she pulls up the email again. She typed up the body hours ago, before she went on her existential crisis of which thesis she should submit. Darcy spent her whole life making jokes to break tension, throwing out pop culture references to throw people off. She liked to take people unawares. Her loud opinions and ability to divert attention were supposed to be her greatest asset in politics. She wasn’t used to keeping silent. 

Darcy took a deep breath and attached the first thesis. She hit the send button before she could descend into another spiral of indecision and shut her laptop with a final click. Her chair scraped against the carpet as she stood on shaky legs. 

It was done. 

Mighty Thor, she needs a drink. 

… 

A week and a half later she has her thesis results and still no job offers. 

Graduation was this morning and she’s supposed to be celebrating the milestone. Instead, Darcy stares at the amber liquid in her glass and just remembers watching Thor and Selvig try to go drink for drink while she stuck to her tequila shots. The intention when she left her room had been to meet up with friends, the ones she hadn’t had a chance to see when she was in Puente Antigo. Five tequila shots later she finds herself nursing a beer with unfamiliar melancholy, her mind thrown back to Jane and their solitary existence in the middle of nowhere USA. 

“Darce!” Shouts Melanie as she crashes into the bar beside Darcy’s stool, face full of joy as she bobs to loud music. “You disappeared.” She stops moving as she takes in Darcy’s face. She’s known her since freshman year and their Intro to International Affairs class. “What’s up?” 

Darcy shakes her head and pastes a smile on her face. “Existential crisis. Kind of freaking out.” 

Melanie groans. “Ugh. We’re not thinking about that. It’s done. We graduated!” 

“You’re not still trying to catch up on a semester of job applications,” Darcy mutters into her glass. Puente Antigo really fucked with her job prospects. Culver was in a prime position to get a job in Washington. Her inability to take a science class cost her a couple months that could have been dedicated to an internship in her desired field. If only Thor could get her a job as ambassador to Asgard or something. 

“Please,” Melanie says, reaching out to squeeze Darcy’s hand. “I’ve seen you talk your way into closed classes, negotiate with flea market dealers, and debate with honest to God political advisors. There is no way you’ll be unemployed for long. While the rest of us stare down the barrel of law school or grad schools. God, listen to us. This is supposed to be a celebration. We’re done with undergrad! Woohoo!” 

With that cheer, Melanie grabs Darcy’s glass and finishes of the rest of it in a couple gulps. Then she yanks Darcy back to the dance floor where she joins the cheering press of bodies, jumping and grinding as if her worries will disappear. 

From the corner of her eye, she spots a guy from the bar turning to watch her. He looks vaguely familiar, but Darcy can’t find it in herself to care because those arms in that t-shirt should be illegal. She turns away from him so she can throw a coy look over her shoulder and her eyes lock on Agent Ipod, looking just as MIB as he did in New Mexico. The pressed suit look does not fit in a college bar. 

That’s when it clicks why Arms looks familiar. 

Darcy sighs and loops her arm through Melanie to pull her down to whisper-shout in her ear. “Just spotted some eye candy I want to take home. You safe here?” 

Melanie blinks before her lips spread in a bright smile. “Who?” 

Darcy nods her head behind her. “At the bar. Grey shirt. Arms about to burst that puppy at the seams.” 

Melanie’s eyes dart to the bar and her grin widens. “The one watching us now?” 

“Mmhm.” 

That earns her a discrete thumbs up before Melanie presses a kiss to her cheek. “Have fun, love! I’m gonna go get Sandy to fuck my brains out.” 

Darcy high fives her friend and makes her way over to the bar with a sultry grin at Arms. His eyes follow her as she slides into the bar right beside him. She takes his drink from hands and takes a long drag. 

He raises a brow, lips quirked in amusement. “If you wanted a drink, I’ll be happy to buy you another one.” 

Darcy makes a face at the sour taste of his beer. “What the hell is this?” 

He grins. “Beer on tap.” 

“You actually drink cheap ass college beer?” She pushes the cup to the far end of the bar. She was hoping a government lackey would at least have decent taste. 

“Whatever’s cheapest.” He actually sounds proud of that fact. 

Darcy sighs. “Would have thought secret government agencies pay better.” 

He doesn’t do anything like visibly startle, but he stills and the lazy way he leans on the bar straightens just a hair. Darcy leans forward over the bar and lets her assets catch the attention of the bartender. 

Arms looks between her and someone on the other side of the room as she orders a couple tequila shots. It’s probably Agent Ipod if she had to guess, but he turns to face her and the bar. She drops a shot in front of him and holds up her own. 

He looks uncertain as she picks it up. She gestures at the full shot. “Drink up, Mic Monkey. I have a feeling I’d rather be drunk for whatever you and Agent Ipod want to talk about.” 

She tries not to think about how sexy that smirk is as he clinks his glass against hers. Darcy throws the shot back and slams it back onto the bar. Normally there’s limes involved and salt, but drastic times and all that. 

“Shall we go then?” She asks. “Unless you want to have this conversation in a bar.” 

“How did you make me?” He asks, grabbing a leather jacket she hadn’t noticed slung across the back of the chair. Darcy definitely prefers the muscles not covered. 

“You mean your obvious staring. Not subtle at all, Mic Monkey.” 

“I meant in New Mexico,” he clarifies. 

She snorts. “You were perched on a building. It’s not like we were in a city. It’s pretty noticeable.” 

“Most people don’t look up.” 

Darcy considers that for a moment. “I worked for an astrophysicist. All we did was look up. Seems like a government lackey should have realized that.” She rounds the corner outside the bar to “Agent Ipod!” 

He stares at her with his trademark nonplussed face. “Miss Lewis.” 

“So what brings this crackpot team of MIB to a little ole college bar during finals week? Finished your degree in creepy staring? Is this your final for cornering unsuspecting citizens? Do I get to give you a grade? Because so far the poker face is definitely an A, but Arms really has to work on the covert operations.” 

Agent Ipod sighs. 

Arms grins and pulls out his phone. “I like her. Can we keep her?” 

Ipod pinches his nose. “Miss Lewis, perhaps you would be so kind as to come with us.” 

Darcy laughs. “I don’t think so Secret Agent Man. We can talk right here.” She crosses her arms and hears the shutter of a camera lens. Arms chuckles and starts typing rapidly on his phone, shaking his head. 

“Nat is going to love this.” 

Agent Ipod looks pained. “Barton.” 

“Are we done here? Kinda celebrating my graduation here.” 

Agent Ipod doesn’t look the least bit swayed. “The director would like to speak with you.” 

Darcy blinks. “The director? As in your boss?” 

Agent Ipod steps aside and gestures to the black SUV on the curb. “After you, Miss Lewis.” 

The joking air disappears and Darcy steps back. “Sorry, Agent, but I’m not going to do that. Shady nighttime meetings. Not my thing. I have a job interview in the morning. Nice catching up, Agent Ipod. Let’s not do this ever again.” 

Surprisingly they let her walk away, towards the bus station on the corner where a gaggle of drunk college students are crowding into a city bus, all far too inebriated to drive themselves anywhere. Most aren’t even able to walk in a straight line. 

Darcy feels far too sober as she stands on the packed bus, but she wasn’t lying: she has an interview in the morning. Maybe this one won’t care about the Intergalactic Relations paper. 

…

Her navy suit is ironed and brings out the blue of her eyes. Her jewelry is simple and understated. She has extra copies of her resume in her bag, along with a tide pen, breath mints and a brush just in case something catastrophic happens. 

Darcy almost left the taser at home. Almost. 

It’s buried in the bottom of her bag where she can get to it if she needs to. Which she shouldn’t really need in DC in the middle of the day. Maybe it was the run in with Arms and Agent Ipot last night, but she feels eyes on her as she walks down the street. She shakes it off as she reaches the lobby office. 

Her eyes skim over the pamphlets in the front room as she waits for the receptionist to call her into the interview room. It’s not her first choice in jobs and she picks up a couple brochures to peruse. Maybe she can work them into her interview. 

“Miss Lewis.” The woman who appears is a severe-looking brunette. She doesn’t look like a traditional secretary in the sense that she looks more willing to punch someone in the face than to answer phones. “This way.” 

She follows the woman through a maze of cubicles filled with busy worker bees making phone calls. The speeches are less impassioned from what she can hear and more reading a list of bullet points. There’s already something missing in this office, but she follows the woman to a conference room. 

Darcy walks in with a forced smile and slows as she realizes the lights are out and there’s a single shadowed figure sitting at the end of the conference table. She turns to ask the woman what’s going on, but the door has already closed behind her. For a moment, her fingers twitch for her taser, but it’s useless. Whoever this joker is, he’s got a whole office of back up and Darcy’s only defense is an electric gun. She has a better chance with her razor sharp wit. 

She drops her purse into a seat and drops into the chair at the closer end of the conference table. 

“I’m guessing this isn’t an interview for an ecological lobbyist.” She clasps her hands in her lap and continues to stare at the black figure that hasn’t moved from the other end of the table. “Want to tell me why I’m here?” 

“Why don’t you, Miss Lewis? It’s not often I have to get out of my office to meet with an intern.” The man leans forward so a beam of light from the office falls across his face, highlighting one eye and rather conspicuous black eye patch. 

“First: not an intern. Second: isn’t exhausting being so dramatic all the time? How long did it take you to figure out the lighting? Is that a pre-requisite to work with MIB? Does that make you the OG Will Smith? Was this even a real job?” Darcy drops back into her chair. “This is going to make my job search impossible. Is it an interview or a covert meeting? I prefer the bar set-up by the way. At least then I get alcohol.” 

Agent M slides a tablet across the table and it lands with scary accuracy in front of Darcy, which just further proves her right about the dramatics. (Seriously, how much did he have to practice that move?). It only takes her a heartbeat to recognize that paper staring back at her from the screen. She scowls and looks back up at the figure. 

“SHIELD is still monitoring my emails? Really? It’s a theoretical paper, which my advisor thinks is satire. I was called in to speak with a school psychologist. I had to play up that satire angle. Literally the only people who think actual aliens are conspiracy theorists and MIB. No one can connect it to Thor. I made sure of that.” 

The man slides another folder across the table, this one blue and stamped with the same bird she saw on Agent Ipod’s badge. Stamped across the image in big red letters is the word “CLASSIFIED”. She glances up at Eyepatch before flipping it open. 

She perks up as she skims the first page. “The Avengers Initiative?” It’s exactly what she was talking about in her paper: a defense system for the Earth. Eyepatch doesn’t think she’s crazy. “When? How?” 

“In the 90s we had a visit. Until recently, there weren’t any present threats.” 

“And then Thor showed up with his twisted family issues,” Darcy agrees, flipping more rapidly through the pages in front of her. She pauses and glances up Eyepatch. “What do you want from me?” 

“To offer you a job, Miss Lewis.” 

She closes the folder and leans forward. “Why?”

“You learned the Earth was in danger and your first thought was how to protect it.” 

“No,” she corrects, “my first thought was to post pictures of a hot man eating pancakes on Instagram.” She leans forward and squints at him. “I’m a poli sci major. I have no tactical experience-” 

“Your dramatic flair is good.” 

Darcy blinks. “Did you just-” 

“I have soldiers, Miss Lewis. I have scientists and tacticians. What I don’t have is a political advisor who understands that.” He points at the folder. “You’ve reacted in the field and demonstrated an ability to respond without breaking confidentiality.” He stands and brushes out his duster. “Maria will give you your credentials on your way out. See you Monday, Miss Lewis.” 

“Whoa! I haven’t taken the job!” She does not work for shady government organizations. 

Eyepatch clasps his hands behind his back. “You will.” He nods to the tablet. “You want the chance to put that into practice. SHIELD is where you can do it.” 

Darcy looks down at the tablet, still lit up with her paper on the screen. Curse him for being right. Besides this, her job prospects really are crap. “Who are you anyway?” 

She blinks in shock to find herself alone in the room. “Wha-” 

“He does that to everyone.” 

Darcy stifles a scream as she spins to face Agent Barton. He grins as he tosses a kernel of popcorn into the air and catches it in his mouth. He’s wearing pretty much the same thing as yesterday in the bar. “Where did you come from?” 

He points up to the ceiling, which she can only assume means the air vent. Darcy elects to ignore that and points at the documents on the table. “And he’s just going to leave these…” 

“Tablet’s yours now. SHIELD issue. Keyed to your fingerprint.” 

“That’s vaguely disturbing,” Darcy mumbles as she picks it up. Barton slips the folder off the table and disappears it somewhere while she’s trying to work out how to shut down the tablet. “So that was…” 

“Director Fury.” 

Darcy pauses halfway through slipping the tablet into her bag. “Eyepatch? That’s Nick Fury?” 

Barton nods and holds up his phone. “Sent the video to my partner. It was great. Coulson’s going to be pissed he missed it. Smile.” 

“Agent Ipod,” Darcy says, mostly for herself, since she’s going to be working with these people. Not that she’s formally accepted the job, but she has. The tablet is already in her bag and she’s already working on a handful of alternate plans. To pretend otherwise is just lying to herself at this point. “And you’re Agent Barton.” 

“Call me Clint.” 

“You’re partners with Coulson.” She’s so out of her depth here. 

“Nah. Phil’s my handler. My partner’s Natasha.” His phone buzzes. “She’s called dibs on training you.” 

“Oh, no. Nope. Physical activity and me: no.” She shudders at her last memory of the gym. “I’m a desk monkey. Where’s Maria?” 

“Hill?” He shrugs. “She’s around here somewhere. If you’re going to be dealing with aliens, you’re going to need training. Nat will get you into shape.” 

Yeah, not happening. Darcy grimaces at Clint and reaches for the door. “Sure, Arms. Whatever you say.” Maria Hill is standing on the other side and calmly hands her a folder as if this was all a carefully planned dance. (Damn MIB dramatics.) 

“Your pass, salary information, where to report on Monday. Your training officer will find you.” Maria sounds bored. “Now I’m done playing secretary. Scram.” 

…

Darcy places the folder in the center of her kitchen table and stares at it. The plain black pocket folder looks daunting against the fake wooden top. She drums her fingers against the surface and contemplates what it means. 

“Hey, babe! I’m back!” Melanie calls down the hallway. She pauses in the door of the kitchen, sunglasses pushed up on her head and her cover up open to a bikini signalling she’d found a beach or a pool to relax at. “What’s that?” 

“Job offer.” 

“Ooh,” Melanie fully rounds the corner and slides into the seat across the table. She reaches for the folder and flips it open. She freezes. “This isn’t a lobby position.” 

“Nope,” Darcy confirms. 

“This isn’t even politics.” 

“Political consultant.” Darcy read the words. She’s not thrilled with the part about fitness regulations and firearms training. She’d be essentially PR for whatever team they put together and ambassador to any intergalactic visitors. It’s two pronged. In the future, it might be two jobs, but for now it’s just her...working with the Director to restructure and reinforce the Avenger Initiative.

Melanie looks up at her. “This seems a little sketchy.” She holds up the plastic ID card with Darcy’s photo stolen from her driver’s license. 

“Apparently it’s temporary. I have to take an updated photo monday.” And then she’ll get a badge and everything. It was in the reading material on her tablet. The hardcopy paperwork on the desk is admittedly sketchy. It has no real department identification. It speaks only in the blandest of terms so she can review it all before signing the real paperwork when she goes to HR. Damn spy dramatics. 

“Well, the pay is insane, I’ll give you that. I’d be tempted to work for,” she squints at the paper, “Global Defense Contractors. Are there military ties?” 

Almost definitely, but Darcy thinks it’s more a nod to what her actual job description is, what SHIELD’s actual purpose is. She’s been reading up on SHIELD, everything she can find online and everything Fury left her on the tablet. It’s been a busy day. She’s still hesitant to sign on as jack-booted-thug # 3, but it feels right. “Some military.” 

“I thought you wanted liberal lobby groups: Save the Whales, Planned Parenthood, all that jazz.” Melanie flips through the papers, a frown furrowed her brows. 

Darcy leans back in her seat, tapping on the table again as her brain examines that fact. She always dreamed of saving the world in the theoretical sense, the accessible-food-and-water, affordable healthcare, clean up the planet kind of saving the world. Not the superhero, global battles kind of saving the world. She imagined doing that by changing minds and hearts. 

This job requires very little of that. It demands working behind the scenes and dealing with powerful figures who could probably kill her. It works in the shadows. It’s an organization that does shady things to maintain its secrets. It’s also the greatest chance she has at being at the forefront of Intergalactic politics. 

“Are you sure about this, Darce? This isn’t like some freak out after Johnson railed on your thesis?” Melanie asks carefully. 

Darcy sighs and takes the papers from her. “It’s really not. As...odd...as it is, this is my chance to work in a completely new field, to do innovative work. It’s different. Not what I expected at all, but...it’s good.” 

Melanie watches her, as if she could single out a lie hidden in her words. “Okay.” 

Darcy grins at her. Melanie will never know how affirming this conversation is for her. She had been 80% sure she would take the job prior to this. She had been on the verge of calling Jane, knowing full well that the astrophysicist’s distaste for incompetant G-men which contrasted spectacularly with Darcy’s current theory that working inside the system could affect change. Maybe she’s deluding herself, but there’s one thing Darcy knows: this job certainly won’t be boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> **Cut Scene:**
> 
> “You wouldn’t happen to be able to explain why my office keeps getting calls for references, would you?” Agent Ipod asks, voice tight. 
> 
> Darcy’ crows in triumph. “It worked? Score!” She fist pumps. “I had it at like 50% chance of success, but it’s actually working?” 
> 
> Coulson looks up at the sky, probably praying for Thor to strike him now. “How did you get my office number, Miss Lewis?”
> 
> “What about the emails? Are you enjoying the Cat Facts? The baby emails? I was going to go porn sites or ED ads, but that just seemed too predictable.” Darcy bounces on the balls of her feet. It’s not the first time she’s used email subscriptions to get back at someone. It is the tamest one though. There’s a couple cheating bastards in her past who have not gotten off so easy. 
> 
> “SHIELD is not in the habit of handing out recommendations to non-agents,” Agent Ipod says stoically. 
> 
> Darcy chooses to believe this means he’s been actually reading the emails. “I figured you owed me, what with me being unable to apply to jobs because of that whole ‘gas leak’.” 
> 
> Agent's eyebrow twitches. "Goodbye, Miss Lewis."


	2. How to Build a Team: A Guide by Darcy Lewis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy Lewis finds her bearings at SHIELD

**How to Build a Team: A Guide by Darcy Lewis**

The biggest problem Darcy had while working for a secret government agency, surprisingly, wasn’t the secrets, but the physical fitness. After HR (and her cringe-inducing ID photo), she had been sent straight to the gym for a mandatory fitness test, given by none other than Agent Ipod, which she had failed abysmally. 

Not that she was that out of shape - she really wasn’t - but she wasn’t on par with the military and special forces operatives who set the standards. So after a measly two hours on the job, Director Fury turned around and shipped her out to Quantico and a FBI training where all the spies-in-training looked down their noses at the chatterbox who was clearly out of place. 

“Pointless.” Darcy’s taken to muttering to herself as she goes over the Avengers Initiative in her corner of the classroom while the rest of the class is focused on analytics and basic social media tracking. Her tablet screen shuts down as a shadow falls across her desk and Darcy looks over at Alex, one of the FBI trainees.

“What’s pointless?”

Around the room, everyone is split into pairs and Darcy groans. Another investigative teamwork assignment. Great. “Nothing.”

“Rumor has it you’re here to work with the cyber division,” Alex prods. Two weeks and her whole class is still trying to figure out what she wants to do in the FBI, why she was assigned to their group focused on domestic security. 

If only they knew. 

Darcy smiles at him and taps his arm with a finger. She learned flirting as a distraction tactic in middle school when her breasts appeared. It was either that or babbling. It’s a momentary distraction, especially around here, but it’s been enough so far. “I might know a thing or two about computers.” 

“MIT?” Alex fishes. “CalTech.” 

Darcy grins. “So what’s the assignment?” 

“Build a foolproof cover for an operative,” Alex says, holding up a file. “Figured we could be partners since it worked so well last time.” 

Last time...when she punched him in the face after he surprised her at the end of the latest training exercise. She doesn’t believe him. This is about solving the puzzle that is her being in this program. When Agent Coulson said she couldn’t let anyone know why she was there, Darcy honestly hadn’t thought it would be so hard. Except she’s surrounded by people who want to dedicate their lives to finding out secrets. 

It’s another level to this training. 

And on top of it all: Fury still expects to hear her proposal on the Avengers Initiative in two weeks. If she wasn’t actually enjoying the work, she probably would have had a screaming match with the Director about impossible feats. Instead, she worked on it while bored in her classes. The only ones that actually challenged her were the physical tests, which she had expected. She hadn’t expected the actual class classes and was actually getting a kick out of applying it to her new job and potential aliens. 

It could actually be quite useful. 

Take creating new identities for instance: definitely helpful. Like when Thor appeared and she needed to create a fake history. Darcy’s still proud of that. This course is more about creating the social media presence to go along with that identity. The lack of a solid presence could be as detrimental to an improperly sourced one. Not that many of these jocks probably gave much thought to that. 

Darcy slips her tablet into her bag and opens the folder on the desk to get a look at this operative. It’s a red-head levelling an unimpressed stare at the camera. It looks like she could kill someone with her mind. The folder identifies her as Agent Natalie Rushman. 

“We have to create a cover for the mission and then the class will have to figure out which profile is the real one,” Alex explains in greater detail as they spread the papers out on the desk. There’s a memory stick slipped into a pouch of the folder. Darcy plugs it into her computer and starts combing through the information on it: mostly just a bunch of pictures. 

“Damn,” Alex whistles, leaning closer to get a better look at the scantily clad pictures of Agent Rushman. 

“What’s the mission?” Darcy asks as she scrolls through picture after picture. 

Alex drags his eyes away to look at the folder. “Corporate investigation. Looking into shady dealings with a weapons contractor. Damn, looks like the photos will have to go.” 

Darcy rolls her eyes and grabs the folder from him. She flips to the agent’s skillset. It looks like high marks in interrogation and intelligence gathering. Mission parameters looks like it is time sensitive. Company is Stark Industries. 

“We’ll need to give her an engineering background,” Alex mutters, “just to get her in the door. Even then, she’d have to work quickly to rise through the ranks. We can’t pass her off as janitorial staff.”

“Do you pay any attention to the news?” Darcy types quickly on her computer, creating a fake history for Natalie Rushman. 

Alex frowns at her. “Sure. Why?” 

“Recent changes within Stark Industries means they’re looking for high level management, which usually means openings for executive assistants, and what with the mess left behind by Obediah Stane, probably legal consultants. Both of which would give Agent Rushman the access she needs quickly. Lingerie photos would catch the eye of Tony Stark, but Pepper Potts vets everyone so she would also have to be competent and have the requisite skill set.” 

“Potts would shut down the model,” Alex argues. 

Darcy purses her lips. “So we bury them. Stark would find them if he looked, but it’s not easy to find. After all, how else does one pay for law school?” 

“Speaking from experience?” There’s a glint in Alex’s eyes, as if he now has valuable information. 

Darcy grins right back. “Watched season 1 of Grey’s Anatomy.” 

He frowns as Darcy submits their mission cover and sits back. Before long their teacher is walking up to their workstation, a frown on his face. 

“Miss Lewis, Mister Demarco, you submitted your profile rather quickly.” He clasps his hands behind his back. “Rather surprising.” 

“Lewis and I make a great team,” Alex says. He flings his arm carelessly over the back of Darcy’s chair. “Think we could break and rejoin the group once everyone’s done?” 

“Actually, I want to make sure you didn’t hack the system. Your profile raised some flags.” Agent Gleeson narrows his eyes on Darcy specifically. “Trying to cheat the system, Lewis?” 

“Any chance I can get.” She swivels in her chair to look at Gleeson. He’s definitely one of the teachers who doesn’t know why she’s here. Morse on the tactical side clearly was briefed. She has a feeling Rumlow in STRIKE is aware. Hill has appeared a few times. Sitwell. Gleeson seems just frustrated by her natural ability in his class. “Didn’t need to for this assignment though. I guess we chose a similar path to the operative.” 

“In any other situation, the approach wouldn’t have worked-” 

“But it was Stark,” Darcy cuts off. “I watched those Senate hearings, Gleeson. The man marches to his own drum. Potts, who has worked with him for years would know that a woman who spent years dealing with leering men would be able to handle Stark. It’s a calculated risk.” 

“Lay off the probee, Chuck,” a familiar voice calls from the front of the lecture hall. Agent Morse stands with her arms crossed over her chest. “Time for your final exam, Lewis.” 

She nods and gathers her things. There are eyes on her as she joins Agent Morse and then follows her from the room. There’s a buzz in the air, one that energizes Darcy like a blast from her taser, like Thor getting a hold of mjolnir again. 

“So I can finally blow this popsicle stand?” she asks Agent Morse. 

Morse looks at her and maintains stoic silence as they walk to the main entrance to the facility - which could lead towards the training grounds unfortunately or towards freedom. Darcy slows her steps as they near the entrance and she spots Rumlow outside, leaning against a black SUV that screams government vehicle. 

“What happened?” Darcy pulls her tablet from her pack, unsurprised to see a new data package waiting for her. She flips it open to a surprisingly old file with SSR stamps all over it. She quickly moves through the pages, already familiar with Captain America’s history - thank you Propaganda and War 301 - until she hits a recent color photo of a block of ice with blue and red blurs covering it. 

She glances up at Morse in surprise.

“Director’s orders. We’re flying to New York,” Morse explains, holding the door open. “You’re competent enough. The rest of your field training can be handled in house.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Darcy deadpans as she follows Morse into the backseat of the car. Rumlow takes the front and they start to move. Darcy flips through the file again, slower this time before making a show of looking around. “Oh, is Sitwell not joining us?” 

That gets her first real smile out of Morse. Rumlow grunts from the front seat and then holds out a folded up twenty, which Morse cheerfully takes. 

Darcy raises an eyebrow in silent question. 

Morse shrugs. “Clint said not to bet against you.” 

Darcy’s lips twitch into a grin. Maybe she is pretty good at this secret agent stuff. 

… 

Agent Coulson must be freaking out. It’s Darcy’s first thought as she stands in the observation room to watch as the SHIELD scientists slowly defrost the very much not-dead Captain America. She shuffles the paper files of Project Rebirth on the table in front of her again and looks at the tablet currently open to her working draft of the Avengers Initiative. 

“What do you think?” Hill asks, her own tablet held out from her body at an angle, staring through the glass at the aforementioned (former) hunk (of ice). 

“I think I’m not sure why I’m here,” Darcy says, barely resisting the urge to throw her hands in the air in exasperation. “This has nothing to do with aliens.” 

“Captain Rogers is-” 

“A great candidate for the Avengers Initiative,” Darcy concludes with an eyeroll. “Maybe. After he’s been acclimated to the present time. Still doesn’t explain why I’m here watching him defrost. Or why you’re here for that matter. Don’t you have people to intimidate? Dramatics to polish? Is Agent Morse going to kick my ass again?” 

“I can see why Clint likes you.” 

Darcy only just barely manages not to jump at the new voice right behind her. “Damn spies. I’m actually starting to get used to you popping up out of the woodwork.” She turns and comes face to face with a familiar redhead. “Oh. You’re…,” she throws her name back to that stupid assignment at Quantico, “Natalie Rushman. Heard you infiltrated Stark Industries as an underwear model turned lawyer. Did Tony Stark ask you if you were a dominatrix? Because in my mind that was totally a part of your background. Not that you can tell that from an internet search, but you kind of can.” 

“Natasha Romanov, meet Darcy Lewis, our point person on the Avengers Initiative. Darcy, meet Natasha Romanov, codename: Black Widow.” Maria Hill looks smug as Darcy’s hand pauses over her tablet. 

The Black Widow is in her files. There’s just no picture. Russian assassin who defected and joined SHIELD. Deadly. Beautiful. Strengths in reconnaissance and stealth. An interesting choice for the Avengers as a STRIKE team, but also one of Fury’s few select choices. 

“So, definitely a dominatrix?” Darcy asks, refusing to be cowed. 

Natasha grins. “I would never tell.” 

“I’ll have to ask Clint next time I see him just to watch him squirm,” Darcy decides and looks back at the man whose skin is slowly returning to normal color. “So, I’m guessing Captain Rogers is falling under my domain as a potential asset, and what? Fury’s because he has no idea where to put him? Miss Spider is here to make sure we all stay safe?” 

“That’s the general idea,” Hill agrees. 

“And Coulson is tucked away so that he can’t drool all over the soldier.” 

Natasha snorts. She leans against the wall to look in on the room. “How do you plan to integrate him?” 

“Let me guess,” Darcy mutters as she picks up a page of Steve Rogers in the machine that made him Captain America, “something stupid and dramatic.” 

“We don’t want to overwhelm him too quickly. He’s coming out of a war,” Maria says slowly. 

“Assuming his brain still functions and he retains all his facilities.” Darcy purses her lips in thought. “I don’t want anything to do with this.” 

“It’s your job-” 

“No, I mean that in order to do what you want me to do, I can’t be a part of whatever scheme you’ve concocted here. When it backfires, bring me in. After you’ve assessed and gotten him caught up the best you can, then let me talk to him about the Avengers Initiative.” She packs up the folder and hands it back to Maria. “Nice to meet you Agent Romanov.” 

Darcy makes it halfway down the hallway before the Black Widow falls into step with her. “You think the plan will backfire.”

“No,” Darcy says carefully. She’s seen Fury’s plan. She doesn’t think the 1940s set up is the worst idea, but it’s certainly got several flaws, which the more she thinks about it are actually tests. “I think SHIELD is testing his memory recall, adaptive ability, tactical strategy, and physical fitness in one fell swoop. I  _ think _ the man known as being a Sentinel of Liberty would appreciate everyone he’s working with lying to him. You shouldn’t be involved either.” 

Darcy stops in front of the elevator and turns to face the assassin. “I’ve never met the man. It could all just be propaganda, but I’d rather not test that for five minutes just so Fury can be a dramatic pirate.” 

Natasha’s lips twitch, her eyes glittering with mirth. She reaches forward to press the button to call for the elevator. “He didn’t ask if I was a dominatrix, but Natalie Rushman definitely could have been one.” 

Darcy considered that. “You’re the one who assessed him?”

Natasha nods. 

That puts a different spin on things. This is a woman who works in the shadows. Tony Stark by all accounts is someone who never does anything by halves, who wouldn’t know subtle if it hit him in the face, who is loud in everything he does. It could work to their benefit or detriment. Darcy’s sure Fury considered that when he took Tony Stark off the list. 

“Can I meet him?” Darcy asks as the elevator arrives. 

Natasha shrugs. “I could make that happen. He consults for SHIELD. You could go as a low level grunt.” 

“Maybe I will.” Darcy looks around the facility. “Since I’m here in New York.” She pauses. “Bruce Banner. Why isn’t he on the list?” 

“Because he’s uncontrollable.” 

“If that were true, the Hulk would be running rampant. Can you track him down?” Darcy clicks her tablet to formalize the request. 

Natasha narrows her eyes. “I can ask some people.” 

“Thanks. And I’ll visit Stark for that consult.” She closes her tablet and smirks. “Need to practice all the G-man posturing I learned at Quantico.” 

… 

Stark Tower is a modern marvel and Darcy would love to talk to their PR manager. She can’t imagine it was easy when they usually have to cover Stark’s playboy antics. Ironman is arguably worse because he comes with millions in property damage instead of Tony’s thousands of dollars. The entire building is half covered in sheets of plastic and security keeps out the general public. She slips in between the guards as her tablet runs an interference program. According to Phil, it redirects cameras and security around her. 

She wasn’t sure it was working until she arrived at the lab floor to screaming rock music. The mess is different than with Jane, who was partial to markers and fixing machines with spare parts she found lying around, but the lab is still that messy jumble that seems to be the habitat of genius. It makes her nostalgic for the abandoned car dealership in Puente Antigo. 

Darcy watches for a moment as a brunette head bobs to the music. Three droids that appear to be somewhat sentient roll around the space but they appear to be just as bumbling as Darcy was being a poli sci major in a physics lab. She walks up to the door with the keypad and tilts her head at it. 

According to Coulson, his program could get her into Stark Tower mostly undetected. It would cause a problem should she try to enter Stark personal space, including the labs where Stark’s AI would take over security and alert the man himself to her presence. Frankly she’s surprised that coming up to the labs themselves didn’t alert whatever security he had in place. 

Darcy turns off the program that created a blank spot in the security program and waited. 

The man is too absorbed in his work to notice anything, including the robots fighting around him. She recognizes the bright eyes of a scientist in the middle of an inspiration driven frenzy. When nothing happens for a good two minutes, Darcy reaches for the handle of the door, knowing that the lock pad will prevent her from going further but that it should alert Stark to her presence. 

“I am afraid that Mister Stark is currently occupied. Please schedule an appointment.” 

She smiles a the crisp British accent and turns to survey the hallway. “I don’t know where to look to address an AI,” she admits. “Can you inform Mister Stark that a representative from SHIELD is here to drop off some schematics?” 

“Sir has specifically stated that he is not to be interrupted. You can leave the schematics or schedule an appointment.” The voice manages to sound snooty with this answer. 

Darcy makes a show of shrugging and then heads out of the building and back the way she came. Once she hits the sidewalk, schematics still firmly in hand, she pulls out her phone and follows Natasha’s directions a small hole in the wall Polish restaurant that she swears has the best pierogies. 

She gets a couple orders to go, having a drink while she waits for them to be cooked, and then heads back the way she came. She detours into a cafe along the way and arrives back at the tower about two hours later. This time she nods at security and doesn’t even try to hide from the cameras. 

The elevator doesn’t move as she steps inside and presses the button for the lab floors. “You are not authorized to reach the level. Please select a new destination.” 

Darcy smirks. “I’m just here to bring Mr. Stark some dinner. It’s been, what? 10 hours since he last ate? 12?” 

There’s a pause, a clear sign that she is in fact speaking to the AI and not an automated system. She could hack it, but that won’t win her any points, and why waste that option when her science-wrangling senses were tingling. 

“My old boss used to do the same thing. She was an astrophysicist. I called it science-binging. By the manic look in his eyes earlier, I’d say Mr. Stark is in dire need of some high calorie food and rest.” She holds up the plastic bag and sips her coffee. There’s a pause as the machine processes her answer. “You know, this would go much easier if I just knew what to call you. Then maybe I could actually call ahead. Get Stark’s preferences. I hear the superspies at SHIELD might know those things, but that feels like cheating.” 

The elevator starts to move and Darcy hides a smile behind the rim of her cup. If she had a free hand, she would fist pump. Instead she raises the cup to the ceiling, where she can at least see a camera. 

“Thanks, my man.” 

“You may call me Jarvis, miss,” the voice responds, only slightly less icy.

“Nice to meet you, Jarvis. I’m Darcy Lewis.” 

“Might I see your ID, Miss Lewis.” 

Darcy juggles her coffee cup to get a free hand to pull her badge from her jacket pocket. She holds it up to the camera. “If you need a better view, you’re going to need to direct me, J. And you can call me Darcy. Or I guess Agent Lewis.” Her lips purse at the sour taste of the name. Fury may have cut Tony from the Avengers Initiative, but she still thinks he could be an asset. “Which reminds me, what pronouns do you use, J? You sound masculine, but I don’t want to jump to conclusion.” 

“You may put away your badge, Agent Lewis. As for pronouns, I am not human and therefore have no sex or gender. I suppose if there is a case where you needed to use pronouns, any you choose would suffice.” 

Darcy pauses with her cup halfway to her mouth. She considers the AI as the elevator slides to a gentle stop. “When you figure it out, let me know,” she says slowly. “Until then, may I refer to you as J?” 

“As you wish, Agent Lewis,” Jarvis sounds almost pleased now, a definite improvement if you ask Darcy. 

She nods. “Very well, J. This was a good talk.” She walks from the elevator. “So is this ‘you can open the doors’ situation or a ‘I need to knock situation’?” 

The lab doors open as she reaches them and Darcy smirks. “Thanks J.” Who needs superspy dramatics when you can befriend AIs? 

Stark doesn’t even look up from his table and the music covers the sounds as the robots race over to check out the new team member. Darcy pats one on the claw (head?) and takes the fire extinguisher from the other. She keeps it next to her as she finds an open table space and starts opening to go containers of food, still steaming, and then sits on a mostly-empty stool. 

Darcy starts on her order of rosol and waits. The bots poke at her, beeping adorably like R2D2. The biggest keeps reaching for the fire extinguisher, which is a little concerning as Darcy doesn’t see any fire. 

At one point, Stark seems to realize he has company and starts talking aloud, but since she’s not Pepper - who Darcy assumes is the incomparable Pepper Potts, CEO and role model to little girls everywhere - Darcy keeps her mouth shut. He goes on explaining how he’s got the tower almost completely operational, about how getting the title to land under the Hudson River was really the problem, and about how this new endeavor is going to revolutionize the modern world. Darcy moves on to try the golabki she promised Natasha she would get instead of just “fattening herself up with potato pockets”. 

They’re surprisingly delicious for cabbage and the smell that comes off them finally snaps Stark from his science-induced marathon. He blinks at her in surprise and then looks at the robots lurking around her and then around the lab. 

“You’re not Pepper.” 

She smiles. “Nope.” She pops the rest of the golabki into her mouth. 

“How did you get in here? Jarvis?” He points at her with a screwdriver. “Call security. I’ve got an intruder.” 

Darcy pushes the order of pierogies at him. “Here, these are for you.” 

“And let you poison me? I don’t think so. Let me guess,” he continues, circling the room. “You work for Eyepatch. Well, we had an agreement: he didn’t want me on his team, I don’t do work for his team. Done. Jarvis?” 

The AI doesn’t respond. Darcy internally raises an eyebrow at that, but pointedly picks up a pierogi and takes a bite. 

“What did you do to my AI?” 

She shrugs. “We had a nice conversation. Right, J? 

“Indeed, Agent Lewis.” 

Stark freezes in surprise, halfway through a screen of what looks like code. He glares at the ceiling in what might be betrayal. “What did the mean harpy do to you, Jarvis,” he asks himself as he dives back into the code. 

“Agent Coulson sent me,” Darcy says. Okay, so she’s loving the dramatics. This is actually a lot of fun. No wonder Director Fury likes it. She takes a sip of her coffee. 

“How is Agent these days?” Stark walks away from his computer screen and pokes experimentally at her food, as if bored. 

“Happiest I’ve ever seen him. Did you know he could smile? Like giddy smile? He’s lit up like a freaking carnival right now. It would be annoying if it wasn’t so adorable.” She’s actually flattered she’s had the privilege of seeing Phil geek out about Captain America. Usually, he’s all stoic G-man. It’s nice. 

“What’s got the stick out of Agent’s ass?” 

Darcy grins as Stark actually eats a golabki. “Classified.” 

“You know I can hack SHIELD, right, Junior Agent?” 

“So I’ve heard. Also read you thought you were dying and decided to just let blood toxicity kill you but not before going on a self-destructive streak a mile wide.” 

He pauses with a fork stabbed in some pierogies. “Look who has clearance now. This your first time out of the sandbox, Junior? And they sent you to butter me up? They should have sent Natashalie.” 

“Agent Romanoff already gave her assessment. I just wanted to meet you in person,” Darcy admits. 

“Well then you already know I don’t work well with others, including the hot young agents they send to seduce me.” Stark takes the box of pierogies and sits across from her. “Well, get on with it. What’s the pitch this time? 

Darcy actually cackles. “What am I supposed to do? Seduce you with my spectacular clumsiness?” 

“Isn’t that what the food is for?” Stark asks, holding up his box. 

“The food is because I’ve worked with scientists before. You were on a binge and hadn’t eaten for...how long J?” 

“It has been 13 hours since Sir’s last meal.” Jarvis says. 

“Hey!” Stark points at the ceiling. “No teaming up with the intruders, Jarvis.” 

“Intruder implies that Agent Lewis entered the premises through unlawful and unwelcome means. Agent Lewis is better classified as a guest.” 

Darcy fights a smirk. Oh, she likes J. J is her new favorite. “Thanks, J.” 

Stark sputters. “Who invited her? Not me.” 

“I allowed Agent Lewis access.” 

“J and I reached an understanding.” Darcy eats another cabbage roll. “From what I can see, which isn’t much granted, you really don’t work well with others, but that’s because you’re goal oriented and a scientist. Which is to say that you’re a child who likes to work on things that interest him. So long as your interests align, you can work with others. But like most scientists, you want to know everything, which makes working with an intelligence agency an issue. You don’t deal in trust. Spies, like Natasha, know they’re never going to trust everyone they work with. They can cooperate anyway. You can’t.” 

Darcy contemplates another golabki and then looks up at a contemplative Stark. “I understand her assessment. I just needed to make my own.” 

“I’m an engineer. Not a scientist.” 

Darcy snorts. “All genius is the same. You’d forget to eat and sleep if someone didn’t make you.” 

Stark lowers his box. “Who are you, junior?” 

“Agent Darcy Lewis,” Jarvis says from the ceiling. “Graduated from Culver with a degree in Political Science.” 

“Soft science,” Stark snorts. He pulls up a screen to his right and starts sifting through what looks like a comprehensive background on her, including her social media accounts it looks like as he scrolls past the picture of Thor eating pancakes. “Doesn’t scream Secret Agent man. Is this your cover? Ditsy co-ed?” 

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Nope. That’s my life.” 

“Bull,” he says as he starts to throw away bits and pieces. “SHIELD wouldn’t hire you if there wasn’t something...ah ha!” 

If she’s being perfectly honest, Darcy made sure her public persona stayed in tact when she joined up with SHIELD. One: her friends would notice if she disappeared off the face of the Earth. Two: it really was a damn good cover. She was just the crazy who started working for a weird organization after going off the rails with her thesis paper. Unhirable in politics, while in reality working with a shady government organization. 

She should probably stop referring to her boss as shady. Even if he did wear a black duster literally all the time. She watches as Stark’s face morphs into a frown as he skims her thesis and smiles to herself. He glances at her. 

“No wonder Eyepatch hired you. This is right up his alley.” He tilts his head to assess her again, this time not lingering on her physical assets with any intensity. “When he talked about a defense system…” 

“You imagined it was against others like you? Other ‘iron men’?” Darcy uses finger quotes to emphasize her disdain in allusion to the mess that was the latest Stark Expo and traumatizing display. 

“I’m guessing that Fury hired you because this isn’t actually crazy.” Stark starts to pull up everything he can on outer space and aliens, which is of course mostly crack theories...and Jane. Jane’s work on Einstein-Rosen Bridges appears (another one of her kooky grant requests that barely get enough money for the duct tape she needs to fix her machines). He swipes the page away just as quickly and scans through the conspiracy theory sites. “I have to say, if SHIELD was gone into MIB territory color me impressed. I would have thought dear old Dad would have delved into that a hell of a lot more.” 

Darcy can count on two hands the number of confirmed alien species SHIELD has record of. Almost all of them thanks to Carol Danvers, and all of them left Earth because it didn’t have the capability to defend itself. Boy was that a scary revelation. 

Also a reason why she needs to be here in this room, talking to this genius. They need him on good terms. She’s not a fan of the weapons Fury’s got in development. She’d much rather her task force, but she can understand where he’s coming from. She is not going to lose another clever mind working on this. Humans have a fascinating ability for growth and change. Her job is to facilitate that. Or rather, she’s making that her job. If Earth can compete with the rest of the universe, that will make their position all the better when foreign species come knocking. 

“Most of the aliens we’ve got records on have been friendly, and after your father’s time.” Darcy smirks. “The last one I met loved poptarts. Of course, his brother nearly destroyed a town trying to kill him. Thankfully no casualties, but that’s the kind of thing we’d need the Avengers Initiative for.” 

“And I said, they don’t want me, kid. So why are you here?” 

Darcy shrugs. “They didn’t want you. I’m still on the fence.” She reaches up through the tabs he was throwing around the room and flicks her wrist. Jane’s grant page pops back into the main screen and she grins in triumph. It really is an awesome piece of technology. “Think of it as a trial run.” 

Stark tilts his head as he looks at Jane’s page and then clicks open a list of her papers, which he expands. “Doctor Foster. Astrophysics. What am I supposed to do with this?” 

Darcy shrugs and picks up the tablet she brought here with her excuse. “I can’t wait to find out.” 

… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone so I kept writing. Let me know what you think!


	3. In Case of Emergency: Break Glass

**In Case of Emergency: Break Glass**

Brock Rumlow can burn in the deepest pits of Hell. 

Like the deepest deepest ones where the flames are so hot they’re blue. Where eyeballs pop like popcorn kernels and your flesh melts off your bones. Where they drive railroad spikes through your body and you get repeatedly crushed by falling boulders. Where- 

“Pick up the pace, Lewis!”

Darcy is jerked from her daydream of roasting Rumlow alive by the shout and she redoubles her effort to run around the training course. Experience tells her she can push past this. Although she really would love to get revenge on her drill sergeant somehow. Pity Natasha is out of the country and he’s here to pick up the slack. 

The course ends and only her stubborn resolve keeps her standing instead of collapsing on the ground in a heap as Rumlow joins her and the other squad of junior agents at the base of the trail. Rumlow’s face screams that he gets far too much pleasure from their exhaustion. 

“Alright, grunts, you’re done for the day. See you back here bright and early tomorrow.” 

Darcy salutes him and turns to trudge back to the locker room with the rest of the plebeians. Maybe she can catch May from down on the lower levels and convince her to spar with her. 

“Lewis!” 

So much for that. She turns back to the STRIKE captain expectantly. He raises an eyebrow and she just waits. “Well, if that’s all, Rumlow, I’ll just-” 

“You know Romanov asked me to spar with you.” 

Darcy groans. “Really, Rumlow?” 

“Until your little team is formed, STRIKE team is the top team for response to any intergalactic incident. With Barton and Romanov on alternate assignment-” 

“That leaves, you, Rollins and your lovely gathering of chuckleheads.” Darcy would rather put her arm through a meat grinder than deal with the asshole on Rumlow’s team. The man himself isn’t terrible when you get him away from all the posturing and alpha male ego. She can even stand him on occasion. She would just rather not. “Can’t I get May to work with me?” 

Rumlow looks to the retreating group with a slight frown. “Much as I would love to see you face the Calvary, she’s out of the field for a reason.” 

“Bobbi?” It’s her last hope. Fight the blonde amazon who killed her in basic training. No one ever called her wise. 

Rumlow laughs out loud at that one. “Sorry, Lewis. You’re stuck with me. Let’s see what the spider taught you.” 

… 

The alarms wake Darcy from her nap at 8pm. The corner of her mouth is tacky with dried drool and her coffee cold at the corner of her desk. The flashing screen of her computer indicates that there’s been a breach at Base 43. Groggy, she struggles to remember why that is so significant. Base 43...Base 4… 

_ Brrrrrriiinnnngggggg. _

“Lewis,” Darcy answers, suppressing a yawn as it finally clicks: Coulson. Barton. Erik. Base 43. 

“I’m activating Avengers Protocol, Lewis.” 

Her adrenaline spikes and Darcy is already overriding the alarm on her computer to look up information. Base 43: home of the Tesseract. Where Erik, Clint, and Phil were experimenting on the application of alien technology. Gifted to Earth by Carol Danvers after an incident in the 90s. Capable of destroying...well, Fury wasn’t sure. All they knew was that it was powerful and that Hydra used it in the 40s. It stayed with SHIELD until some time in the 70s. And if the Avengers protocol was active… 

“Who was it? They have the Tesseract?” She can’t get into the base’s video archive. It’s just not there. All security and backups were on site. If they got destroyed… “Casualties?” 

“Loki,” Fury says succinctly. “Barton is compromised. Same with Selvig. We need to gather the team.” 

“Alright. We need the Captain, Widow, Stark, did Natasha get the information on Banner?” She pulls up the respective files as she talks, wishing for one of Stark’s holographic screens as she sifts through it all. 

“Romanov is getting Banner. Phil is getting Stark, as a  _ consultant _ only, Lewis. I won’t have him compromise my team. I’ll put you on the Captain.” 

Darcy shakes her head. “No go, Director. You’re the face Captain Rogers knows. I need to cover fallout. We’ll need to relocate Jane. I assume if Loki grabbed Selvig, he might go after Foster too. I’ll see what I can do about contacting Thor. I assume if Loki can get here, the Rainbow Road must be fixed or whatever.” She pauses as her mind runs through the team she has. “I’ll have Rumlow on standby.” 

There’s begrudging silence on the other side of the line and Darcy belated realizes she just told the Director how to do his job. “Er, that’s my suggestion, sir?” That sounded more official. Good job, Lewis. 

“See to it, Lewis. You and STRIKE team Alpha are on the ground. Hold the fort at the Triskelion. If the eye in the sky falls, you’re our last hope. I expect you to stay up to date. If we can’t handle this without the world finding out, that’s your jurisdiction.” 

“Yay, PR,” Darcy mumbles to herself. 

“What was that, Lewis?” 

“Sir, yes, sir.” She salutes the wall as if Fury is right in front of her and not halfway across the country. 

“Good. Mobilize the troops. Initiate Avengers Protocol and list Agent Barton as compromised, shoot to disable, not kill.” 

“Got it,” Darcy says as she types in her authorization code to change the alarm to relay the relevant information. “I feel like this is a situation where we need a big red button, you know. Like with a sign: In case of Alien Invasion. It would look all dramatic. Because frankly, typing a password into the computer seems anticlimactic-” there’s a click on the other end of the phone and Darcy sighs. “Guess I get to go yell up at the sky now.” 

… 

Agent Sitwell steps in to relocate Doctor Foster to a remote Icelandic Observatory, with Bobbi Morse as security detail because “she can handle Barton if it comes to that.” Darcy would love to be there herself, but there is the little detail where she still hasn’t told Jane she’s working for the jack-booted thugs who stole her research. Jane thinks its some non-profit immigration organization. Darcy just hasn’t had the heart to correct her. 

“You don’t need to follow me everywhere, you know,” she comments as she finishes the hike to the middle of the training field. She turns to face Rumlow, who isn’t currently in all his STRIKE gear but still has at least three guns and four knives on his person that she can see. 

“Secondary Avengers protocol,” Rumlow says, hands hanging loosely at his side. “Protection of Protocol heads. Should Fury fall, we would be following your orders, Lewis.” 

She snorts. “Yeah, right.” 

He frowns. “You don’t know?” 

“I know the protocol. Fury’s second is Maria Hill.” 

“For the Agency, but for the Avengers Initiative, you are the defacto leader. In case of official alien contact with Earth governments, you would be sent as political advisor. In unofficial contact, you are the liason-” 

“Or a person of my choosing,” she finishes. “That doesn’t mean-” 

“It means that according to protocol, you are the only person qualified to oversee contact with another species.” Rumlow raises an eyebrow at her and dares her to contradict him. 

“Who’s great idea was that?” She’s about to yell up at the sky and see if she can convince a literal god to come fight his brother for the sake of all humanity. There is no way she should be in charge of anything of that scale. 

“Yours, I believe, ma’am.” 

Darcy blinks at the change in address. “Ma’am? What happened to ‘pick up the pace, Lewis’? ‘You call that running? My grandmother can run faster than that.’ I thought I was the basic bitch that Fury brought in to make you life miserable.” 

Rumlow shrugs. “Before this contact was theoretical and as your supervising officer, I was in charge. Don’t think this means I’ll take it easy on your training after this, ma’am.” He smirks and her and Darcy laughs a little as she smiles back. 

“Does that I mean I get to call  _ you  _ maggot?” 

Rumlow raises and eyebrow but keeps a straight face as he says, “as you wish.” 

“That better not be a Princess Bride reference,” she mutters. “Get ready to embrace the insanity.” She turns her head up to the clear, peaceful night sky. “Heimdal, my man, I hope you can see me because boy do I have news for you!” 

She glances around the field. Yup, she feels like a crazy person. 

“I kind of need you to send Thor down here, buddy. We’ve got an issue with his brother, god of mischief and all that jazz. Looks like he’s decided destroying a small town won’t cut it. Heimdal?” 

She gets just as much an answer as Jane when she shouted at the sky for weeks after Thor left before she decided to throw herself even more into figuring out how to build her own Einstein-Rosen Bridge. There was the whole ‘magic is just science we don’t understand’ speech and then only sporadic shouting into the sky when drunk on tequila. 

There’s a slight breeze and Darcy sways in a small circle so see if she can spot anything like they did on the night they found Thor. Nothing. 

“Have to be honest, Heimdal, I really need you to come through for me. It looks like Loki’s pulling some trickster shit and we could really use Thor’s hammer in this fight. So...yeah…” Darcy’s phone buzzes in her pocket. 

She glances at the update and frowns. “They’ve got Romanov. Banner and Rogers inbound in the morning. No sign of Loki yet.” 

Rumlow nods. “How long do you need to shout at the sky for this to work?” 

Darcy shrugs. “I figure I’ll try every couple hours. See what happens.” 

He looks up in surprise. “That’s it?” 

“This is our long shot. If Loki is here, I’m assuming Thor has a way to get through. If Heimdal can really see Midgard…” Darcy shrugs. “It doesn’t hurt to try.” 

“I prefer more concrete action,” Rumlow mutters as he stares distrustfully at the sky. 

“We’re the contingency plan,” Darcy says, staring at the base from afar. It’s lights against the night sky are startling this far past midnight. It would usually be darker by now, but with the heist of the Tesseract, it doesn’t look like anyone is sleeping. “No offense to your ego, Rumlow, but I really hope they don’t need us.” 

“What now, ma’am?” 

“Now? I’m going to try to catch a couple hours sleep on my couch and hope the world doesn’t end.” 

… 

They get almost twenty four of frantic searching. That’s twenty four hours where Darcy combs her mind for anything that can tell them Loki’s location, where she yells at the sky with increasing frustration, where Rumlow finally drags her from Operations and forces her to the mat of the gym. 

“Rogers and Romanov are en route to Germany. Suspected activity by Barton. Confirmed sighting of Loki,” Rumlow announces from the sidelines. He’d stepped out of the ring in favor of giving Rollins a shot to work off his nerves. 

Darcy brushes sweat damp hair off her forehead. “Great. Where’s Stark?” 

Rumlow shrugs. “He’s not part of the initiative.” 

By Darcy’s calculations, he should have hit some sort of break through already. And once he does, he’s not going to sit on the sidelines. His ego won’t allow it. And he’ll want the excuse to bond with Banner. She staggers back from Rollins and takes a long drag from her water bottle. She glances at the old analog clock stuck to the wall. 

“It about time to head back out again.” She wipes her forehead and cringes at the amount of sweat that comes away with it. “But first: shower. Thanks for this.” She disappears into the locker room and shucks off the SHIELD-issued sweats. She fumbles with the tape wrapped around her hands for just a moment before she manages to rip them off too. She’s thankful for the distraction, honestly, it actually seems like Rumlow and Rollins can be a little compassionate. 

Unfortunately, even as cold water hits her skin, she’s already back and preoccupied with the what-ifs of Loki’s arrival on Earth. She’s been texting Natasha since the Black Widow had gotten her latest phone. She’s keeping tabs on the Avengers from afar. Stark will be on that helicarrier sooner rather than later and her only remaining wildcard is Thor. 

What else can she do to get Heimdal’s attention? 

Darcy snorts at the immediate thought of streaking outside to get the attention of the Asgardian, which is more of a passing fancy than an idea. She doesn’t want to even approach the idea of ‘Heimdal sees everything’ which makes him sound like Santa Claus. No, chances are if he can see her, then he should have seen her before. 

She shuts off the water and moves to change back into her work clothes. She’s attempting to adjust her blouse against her slightly damp skin when the Star Wars theme blasts from her phone and echoes around the locker room. Jane hated it, but after the whole whirlwind romance with Thor, she could totally be a space princess. Darcy hadn’t been able to resist. She fishes the phone from the depth of her locker and answers the call. 

“Hey, Janey-” 

“You would not believe where I am right now,” Jane shouts into the phone. 

Darcy grins. She pins the phone against her ear with her shoulder as she pulls on her sensible heels. “Where?” 

“You know I’ve been staying in Europe. Well, I was invited to this observatory, super last minute, and it is just  _ so cool _ . Like the University decided to surprise me with this visit and Darcy! There’s like zero light pollution! I can see everything! And the building is almost entirely glass. I don’t even have to go outside!” 

_ Thanks be to Thor _ , Darcy intones mentally. She was worried Jane would suspect SHIELD interference. Her track record with grants and research opportunities has been limited. While she doesn’t know for sure, Darcy suspects that the support she currently has is filtered through SHIELD subsidiaries. Maybe Stark too after their last conversation. 

“I really wish you were here,” Jane says. “It is gorgeous. I’m sending pictures.” 

On cue, her phone pings with images. She leaves the locker room and locks eyes with a freshly showered Rollins. It looks like he’s taken over bodyguard duty as he falls into step with her. Darcy gestures to the outdoor fields while Jane continues to extoll the observatory facilities. Walking across grass in heels is definitely not the smartest choice she’s ever made. 

“How is everything going Jane? Any new breakthroughs?” Darcy asks, passing the current fitness group being drilled by some underling instead of Rumlow. 

“The data I’ve been grabbing is fantastic. I’ve got pages and pages, but fixing the bridge...not yet.” 

Darcy winces. She didn’t mean to send Jane down a spiral. “I’m sure you’ll find something soon. You’ve got the biggest brain I know, Janey. You’ll figure it out and then tall, blonde, and hunky will come crawling back.” 

There’s a sigh from the other end. “What if he can come back and he just hasn’t?” 

“Well then, he’s an idiot and you don’t need him anyway.” Darcy glare emphatically at the sky as she reaches roughly the middle of the field. 

“I guess you’re right. What are you up to? It’s got to be, what? Three?” 

“Try closer to eight.” 

“So what are you up to? Margheritas?” 

“Nah. I’m still at work.” 

“Still? Really? I hope you’re getting paid overtime.” Through the phone, Darcy can hear the familiar clatter of Jane working on her machines. It feels comfortable. While her world is in a state of panic because a trickster god is using the Earth as its personal plaything, at least Jane’s life is normal. This is why she joined SHIELD: to protect people. 

Darcy smiles at the phone and kicks off her heels so she can curl her toes into the cool green grass. “You know what they say: there ain’t no rest for the wicked. How are the stars looking tonight?” 

“You know I’ve been looking for anomalies similar to what brought Thor here?” The question is rhetorical and Darcy can already sense the building rant. “Well, I’m getting similar readings, but they’re not quite right. It’s just like...an inkling of something. My equipment is a little too old to pick up the full sensitivities. I need to upgrade when the next grant comes through. Did I mention how much I loved you doing the grant paperwork? I don’t know how I did it without you. Are you sure you don’t want to come back and be my assistant again?” 

Darcy chuckles. “As much fun as we had, Janey, I don’t think I’m cut out for the hard science route. But I might be able to find time to help with those grants.” 

“Darcy Lewis, you are the absolute best,” Jane declares. “I appreciate the thought, but honestly I’m worried about you. It seems like every time I call you’re working. I thought this was supposed to be some sort of office job.” 

Darcy chuckles. “Yeah, well, it’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. Although the coffee really is subpar for this kind of emergency.” It really is unfortunate how terrible the coffee is. 

“Gross. Are you sure I couldn’t tempt you away?” 

“Hmmm, for poptarts and slightly better coffee? Tempting.” Darcy stares at her feet as she paces, one foot directly in front of the other as if she was walking a balance beam. The bright green polish on her toenails peeks out from under her pant hem with each step. 

Jane sighs. “But not what you went to school for. I know. If you ever change your mind, just say the word.” 

“Maybe after this emergency passes I’ll take a vacation and visit you. You’re still in Europe, right. We could go party, pick up some hot European men.” Darcy smirks at the thought. “The accents, Jane, just think about the accents.” Then Darcy tilts her head. “Or women. Hey, if Thor comes back, do you think he’ll bring Sif?” 

Rollins stares at her with wide eyes and Darcy rolls hers. Men. Predictable and disgusting. 

Jane snorts. “Don’t ever change, Darce.” 

Her phone dings in her hand and Darcy glances at it just to see it’s an update from the field. “Hey, Jane, I’ve gotta go. Can I call you when this is all over?” 

“Sure. Go. Stop the evil politicians from destroying the world or whatever it is you do. We’ll talk later. Mwah.” 

“Mwah,” Darcy responds before ending the call. She immediately scrolls to Natasha’s report: Stark is on the scene. She looks up at the sky. 

“Heimdal, buddy, I need you to tell Thor we’ve got a location on Loki. He’s in Germany.” Another ding. She frowns at the message. Not that she doubts Captain Rogers and Tony, but it seems unlikely that they managed to capture a god that easily. She sighs. It still feels like they need Thor...but it could just be her paranoid view. “Jane really wants to see you. So there’s that too.” 

Clouds start to gather and static in the air has her hair standing on end. Darcy grins at the sky as the wind starts to whip. To her left, Rollins curses and reaches for the nasty looking weapon at his side. Lightning cracks across the sky and Dracy laughs. 

“Thanks, Heimdal,” she shouts at the sky as the rainbow bridge crashes down in front of her, the Norse knotwork burning into the grass. 

She grins at the hulking figure who steps forward, hammer already spinning idly in his hand. 

He smiles at her as the lights fade. “Lady Darcy.” 

“Thor.” She takes a deep breath and straightens instead of running in for the hug she desperately wants. “As Earth’s official intergalactic representative, I welcome you to Earth and ask for your assistance in dealing with your brother.” 

Thor raises an eyebrow but responds in a similarly serious manner. “It is my duty to ensure my brother is returned to Asgard to pay for his crimes.” 

“He has stolen an artifact from SHIELD and appears to have used mind control on several of our agents. We would prefer they not be hurt, but the safety of the planet is our priority.” Darcy squelshes the urge to fidget nervously. She practiced this speech in various iterations. There’s a more threatening version for negotiating with Loki. 

“I will endeavor not to harm any humans, but my priority remains returning Loki to Asgard.” Thor then grins. “You have done well, shield sister. Your new position suits you.” 

Darcy grins and moves forward to wrap her arms around Thor. His chuckle vibrates through his chest as he returns the hug. “Missed you, big guy.” 

“I missed thee as well, little sister.” He steps back. “We shall reunite again once I have returned my brother to Asgard. We shall drink and revel until the morning star has risen thrice in the sky,” Thor declares in a booming voice. “Until then, merry part, Lady Darcy.” He nods behind her to Rollins and takes off into the sky. 

Tension seeps out of Darcy’s body. She turns back to Rollins still staring at the spot Thor just vacated, gun at the ready, and mouth open in shock. She types a quick message off to Natasha and then another (more professional report) to Fury. 

“You can put that away now, Rollins. Loki is in custody.” She looks at the report on her phone and nods in agreement. “We’re still on high alert: Barton and Selvig are still MIA.” 

“That was…” Rollins continues to stare in awe. 

Darcy sighs. This is her back up team. No wonder they didn’t make the A-Team. Clint and Natasha would have walked this off by now. “Get it together, Rollins. Our work isn’t done.” 

… 

“It’s New York!” Darcy’s pant suit suddenly feels inadequate as she races towards the quinjet. She’s got a SHIELD badge, a SHIELD issued gun and her favorite taser on her person. Her tablet is clutched in her hand and her phone pressed to her ear. “Please tell me the New York Base is on alert.” 

“The team reached the same conclusion,” Fury says stiffly. “Loki is going to open a wormhole. The World Security Council won’t risk the entire Earth. I need you to stay in DC.” 

Darcy stops on the ramp of the quinjet. “What.” 

“That’s an order, Lewis.” 

“No offense, Director, but I’ve never been good at following orders. My job requires me to be on the ground for this.” She continues up the ramp, nodding to Rumlow who gives the order for the jet to take off. “We’ll hijack the airwaves. STRIKE Team will back up the team. How’s Barton?” 

“Lewis-” 

“Listen, Director, we’re already in the air. I have statements drafted. If we don’t get ahead of this, someone else will.” Darcy holds her breath as she hears Fury huff on the other end. 

“If this wasn’t an emergency, Lewis, I would have your head. Handle the press. You now speak for the Avengers Initiative. I hope you’ve been brushing up on your public relations.” 

The line clicks off and Darcy manages a shaky breath before she forces herself to be in control again. Her SHIELD badge is slipped from her belt into her blazer pocket. She brushes her hair back from her face and meets Rumlow’s gaze. “Get me to a broadcast station. Far enough away that we’re unlikely to be interrupted by aliens. I’ve got the protocol to take over the airwaves,” she holds up the tablet with the program. “I just need someone to cover me. The rest are reassigned to assist the Avengers.” 

He frowns. “Sure you can’t do that from here, ma’am?” 

“On-site is better. Gives the illusion of a planned initiative, that we’ve been working on non-violent talks that devolved. Also a vote of confidence to our team.” Darcy drops into a seat and crosses her legs. 

Rumlow passes out orders to his team and they move around her in their practiced patterns. Darcy does her best to stay out of the way. This feels good. Unlike the last 36 hours where they’ve been stuck in a holding pattern, this is finally something concrete that they can do. She feels less stagnant. She just has to get on live television. No problem. 

Before she knows it, Rumlow is leading her into a newsroom where a cheery blonde and her polished coworker are reporting on the wormhole that just opened over Central Manhattan. She pulls ahead of Rumlow to let him deal with the producers and camera men. Darcy gestures to the sports anchor to move and takes over his seat with surprising grace ashe scuttles out of the way. As she sits, she realizes it probably had something to do with Rollins behind her glaring at the man. 

“Umm...and now to our special guest…” The male anchor stutters. Her heart pounds in her chest, threatening to break out in stuttered breaths as the light above the camera pointed at her turns on. For a daunting moment, the world seems to freeze and it vaguely feels like her entire life flashes before her eyes. She takes one breath and then another, channels Natasha’s attitude and presses the button on her tablet to broadcast this to all channels. “Good afternoon. As most of you have probably noticed: Our planet is under attack.” 

Darcy really needs one of Stark’s fancy projector screens to feed her information real-time because she cannot afford to keep glancing down at her tablet for her cover story. Or she needs one of those fancy earbuds with Jarvis feeding her what she needs to know. She should ask Stark about that. 

“My name is Darcy Lewis, Intergalactic Liason and Representative of the Avengers Initiative, a group dedicated to the security and defense of planet Earth. Currently our best team is on the ground in Manhattan working to push back the invading force. This is a concentrated attack, a statement to Earth. Our operatives will stop this, but until then we urge you to remain calm. If you are in the city, stay indoors unless otherwise directed by local officials. 

“The Avengers Operatives are currently working to shut down the wormhole over Stark Tower.” There are live updates being entered into her tablet - a running transcript of the Avengers’ communications. “We will have more once the alien threat has been dealt with.” 

She pushes back from the table and stands to walk off. Spy dramatics are rubbing off on her. 

“That’s it?” The blonde anchor sputters. “Who the hell are you?” 

“Darcy Lewis,” she repeats with a smile. The cameras are still on, and if the producer is good, they’re getting all of this. “Avengers Initiative.” 

“What the hell is Avengers Initiative?” 

Darcy smiles in what she hopes is an enigmatic manner. “A group dedicated to the defense of the Earth.” 

“As in someone has known there are aliens who want to kill us out there?” The second anchor finally throws his voice into the debate, sounding panicked at the very thought, a clear indication as to why this knowledge was kept confidential. 

“Frankly, I’m sure there are just as many humans out there willing to kill other people,” Darcy counters. “Alien species are just as diverse as humans. Our goal at the Avengers Initiative is to obtain the best possible outcome for humanity, whether it be in defense or peaceful relations. The Initiative is prepared for all outcomes. What you see here is a less than optimal path, to be sure, but we are responding as quickly as possible.” 

She clicks on her tablet and video feeds start playing behind the anchors. Shots of Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor taking down aliens, protecting ordinary humans. “The galaxy is bigger than any of us realize. It would be naivete to think we were alone in it. Some of those creatures are bound to be more intelligent and some violent, and we can hope that the peaceful ones will make contact, but we’re also wise enough to make sure we can defend it.” 

Darcy is hell of proud of the fact that as she says that, there’s a close up of Captain Roger’s face, looking remarkably handsome and patriotic. She turns on her heel and walks away. Spy dramatics for the win. 

Probably would be even better if she didn’t trip walking out the door. 

… 

“Shwarma? Really?” Darcy asks, stepping gingerly through the door around bits of concrete and rebar. Her black pants are lightly dusted. Rumlow and team are working clean up and ensuring alien tech doesn’t end up in the wrong hands and Fury sent her to wrangle the team. 

“Short stack,” Tony acknowledges around a mouthful of food. 

“Lady Darcy!” Thor cheers much at the same time.

Clint and Natasha nod in her direction, while Captain Roger and Doctor Banner watch her with respective wariness and suspicion. She gets a hint of pride when Captain Rogers’ eyes slide up and down her body before meeting her eyes again. She winks at him as she walks forward, a bit proud that she’s still got it. 

“Like what you see, soldier?” She asks. She reaches forward to pick something from Natasha’s plate. She leans against the spy’s chair and hums in contentment at the flavor on her tongue as she holds the captain’s gaze. 

She’s curious as to whether he’s got a soldier’s coarseness or that old-timey embarrassment of her crass attitude. He leans back in his chair, eyes assessing again, but this time they don’t leave her face. 

“You just remind me of someone I once knew, ma’am.” 

Darcy raises an eyebrow. “Should I be flattered, Captain Rogers?” 

“Steve,” he says, not answering the question. He holds out his hand. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

“Darcy Lewis,” she says, shaking his hand. “Although I kind of like having you at my mercy.” 

“Careful with that charm, Junior Agent. You’ll give the senior citizen a heart attack,” Tony cautions from across the table. “So did Eyepatch send you in to soften us up before breaking out the big guns?” 

Right. She’s here to do a job. Darcy moves to the other end of the table. “Doctor Banner, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Agent Lewis. You can call me Darcy.” The shy scientist looks around the table anxiously before shaking her hand. “I heard you left a Loki-shaped imprint in the top floor of Stark Tower. Have to say: I’m a fan. I knew you would make a good addition to the team.” 

His mouth falls open in shock and Darcy pushes away from the table so she can get a good look at the whole team.

“Wait a minute, Squirt,” Tony points at her, “addition to the team?” 

“Told you, you would do well when the stakes were high and your ego wouldn’t get in the way. Still think the team could use a bit of work, but the Avengers Initiative was always Doomsday level threats. Technically the rest of the work focuses on political delegates for intergalactic relations, but knowing we have a force to combat threats is a strong selling point.” She turns and pulls up another chair, sliding herself between Clint and Natasha, knowing the spies would have her back. “We’re going to facing a lot of questions in the coming days: who are you? Who gave you the authority to act? Who do you answer to? Etc.” 

“We just saved the world!” Stark shouted. “On the orders of your one-eyed boss.” 

“Excellent, however, the Avengers Initiative now exists as a separate entity under the purview of the World Security Council.” 

“That wouldn’t be the folks who just sent a missile at New York City, would it, ma’am?” Steve’s voice is soft but the threat behind it clear. 

Darcy’s eyes flash to the man who just called lead the team that saved the Earth. “And Director Fury would be the one who told me to stay in DC and watch this fallout over TV with everyone else. Sometimes orders are meant to be broken.” 

The captain’s face gives nothing away. “Do you make insubordination a habit?” 

“Only when lives are in danger and my involvement can make a difference,” she counters. “History says that’s something you can relate to Captain.” 

His lips twitch as if trying not to smile and mirth dances in his blue eyes. 

“Lady Darcy is indeed a formidable warrior,” Thor says with his booming voice. “When Loki attacked her home, she endeavored to rescue those in his path and did not rest until even the smallest animal was free.” 

She shoots him a smile. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, big guy.” 

“She also felled me with lightning. I am happy to fight alongside my shield sister.” Thor grins at her with that wide puppy smile and she smiles back. 

“I thought Eyepatch vetoed my involvement,” Stark counters. 

“Are you still stuck on that?” Darcy leans forward. “Let’s get one thing clear: Fury hired me to manage the Avengers Initiative. My focus is Intergalactic Relations, which means that with Thor, your team falls under my purview. Essentially, you’d all be contractors for SHIELD, with the exception of Romanov and Barton. Possibly Rogers, but I guess that depends on you, Captain.” 

He nods in acknowledgment of her statement. “And ‘intergalactic threats’ would be our only job?” 

Darcy makes a face. “Not necessary. The terms in the foundation of the group are ‘doomsday level threats’.” She makes air quotes around the words. “If we have a reasonable concern that any threat could wipe out humanity, the Avengers could be deployed.” 

“And we report to you?” 

Points to the Captain for asking the question seriously and not derisively the way Rumlow did the first time they officially met. Darcy imagines herself giving commands and snorts. “God, no. Uh-uh. Not me. The team can figure out their field commander, which, as far as I can tell from what I’ve already seen, makes you the Man with a Plan. Pretty sure there’s a song and dance routine for that one. I’d be a coordinator and handler. PR.” She frowns. Phil would have been the optimal choice for handler, but there’s currently a black hole around his status and Fury gave the assignment to her. “On that note: we will need to debrief before Fury decides I’m being negligent in my duties.” 

“I don’t do paperwork,” Stark declares. 

“Have Jarvis send the video log then,” she dismisses, “also what would I have to do to get J on my tablet because it would be great to have a partner in crime when dealing with all this SHIELD stuff and Rumlow is not cutting it.”

Natasha makes a face as she picks at her food. 

“Rumlow? They have you working with Rumlow?” Clint’s feet slam into the floor as he rises. Tired as he might be, he looks ready to put an arrow in someone. 

“Calm down, Arms. I was working with Nat and Bobbi but they got reassigned and apparently STRIKE team is your back up.” She pulls Clint back down into his seat. “More importantly than debriefing, we need a plan to move forward. The news cycle is living off the footage they already have, but they’re going to want answers. Especially about you, Spangles. Spies are out for obvious reasons. Tony, I’m going to need to coordinate with you since I’m sure Stark Industries has their own procedure for PR. Thor?” 

“Regretfully I must return Loki to Asgard along with the Tesseract. Wilst thou give my regards to Lady Jane and tell her I shall return soon?” Thor somehow manages to look that irresistible combination of pleading and apologetic at once. 

Darcy grimaces. This means she’s going to have to make it up to Jane somehow. Her phone has been blowing up since the footage hit the internet. She’s pretty sure her voicemail is full from Jane’s messages alone. The only peace she has is because the towers are overloaded with people checking in on loved ones. “You’re going to owe me one, big guy. If Jane isn’t already on her way here, she will be soon.” 

At least Thor has the decency to look ashamed. 

“Alright, so Thor is taking the Tricky McGreen-Face to Asgard. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are spies. Should I assume that you’re opposed to cameras, Doctor Banner?” 

Bruce blinks at her and then glances around the table until his eyes land on Tony and then back to Darcy. “Um, well…General Ross…” 

Darcy waves the excuse away. “We’re already leveraging your involvement in the Battle of New York into a pardon. Ross is going to have to come up with a new way to get to you if he’s that serious. Also, back pay for the Hero from World War II. My inner child is going crazy over the chance to represent real life superheroes. The question is how much you want to be involved. I’m going out on a limb here and saying you don’t mind the spotlight Nascar.” 

“Nascar?” Tony repeats, bewildered. 

“Not that I want you as the face of the Avengers per se, because we all know you’re more loose cannon but also recognizable.” Darcy taps her nails on the table and then turns the other way. “What about you Captain?” 

He sighs and just looks tired, like all he wants is a nap. “Whatever you need from me, Agent Lewis.” 

She leans forward. “Listen, Steve, I’m not going to turn you into a dancing monkey. Not unless you want to be. I can handle the media circus. Before you all go your separate ways, I’d like to at least have a press conference, but none of you need to speak if you don’t want to. After that you can all disappear until the next disaster strikes.” She looks around at the gathered heroes. “Do we have a deal?” 

… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another installment! I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think and if you're interested in reading more!


	4. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy faces the fallout of the Chitari Invasion and handles her first intergalactic event.

**A Brave New World **

Darcy stands inside the lobby of Stark Tower and stares out at the gathered press in front of the building. She adjusts her blazer with sweaty hands and checks her white blouse for stains. The heels on her feet are borrowed from Pepper Potts and probably more than her monthly salary. She fiddles with her SHIELD badge and vaguely wonders where Rumlow disappeared to after taking away the Scepter. 

“Nervous, Agent Lewis?” 

She starts and glances sideways at the costumed Captain America. “Nope. Not at all. Nothing to be nervous about here. I’m just introducing you and then moving off to stand in the wings. Work from the shadows, pull the strings, pay no attention to the out -of-her-depth agent behind the curtain.” 

Steve grins at her. “I actually get that reference.” 

Darcy huffs in the approximation of a laugh, relaxing into the wall. “Of course you do, grandpa.” 

“Saw that one in theaters,” he shares with a fond smile. “Couldn’t see colors all that well at the time, but Bucky said all those colors were something else.” 

The sorrowful tone draws her attention from the crowd. “Bucky? Barnes?” 

Steve nods. The sadness in his eyes is more pronounced at the mention of his friend.

“How long has it been? For you, I mean,” she specifies. 

“About a month.” He lapses into silence and Darcy reaches out to squeeze his hand. “His sister died a couple years back, but I met her kids. Talked to Peggy too. So many things are different, but this,” he gestures at the media, “this is the same. Just fancier cameras.” 

“Better a dancing monkey than a flying monkey?” Darcy teases. Steve shrugs, but his sneaky tactic worked and she’s no longer so keyed up about what she has to do. She takes a deep breath through her nose. “Thank you, Steve.” 

“Alright, short-stuff, let’s get this show on the road!” Tony announces as he strides into the lobby, clapping his hands together. He’s traded his Ironman suit for the designer kind and looks unfairly comfortable.

“You know, in these heels, we’re almost the same height,” she points out. 

“And yet I’m still taller. Let’s go. The sooner we do this, the sooner I can get back to ignoring my responsibilities.” Tony lowers his aviators and struts out, waving to the crowd. 

Darcy follows him with a sigh, Steve on her heels with the rest of the team behind. The flashes increase at their appearance and Darcy forces herself to take center stage while the Avengers fill in the seats on either side of the center podium. After waffling for a minute, Darcy decides a polite smile is appropriate as she waits until each member is seated before turning to the reporters. 

There’s a wall of sound that she knows must come from the crowd of reporters with their flapping mouths, but Darcy couldn’t make out a single word. She refuses to look to Stark for a hint as to what to do. She holds up her hands gestures to get the volume to lower and almost laughs when it works. 

“I’ve always wondered if that would work,” she says lightly and leans into the podium with what she sincerely hopes is a charming smile. “Thank you members of the press for gathering, Tony Stark assures me that you like to do that anyway, but I’ll thank you in advance for your attention. There will be time for questions after.” 

“Yesterday afternoon at 1300 hours Eastern Time, a wormhole opened over the city of Manhattan. Thousands of aliens known as Chitari passed through the portal with the intent to invade. The Avengers Initiative promptly responded-” 

“Does this have anything to do with the man who appeared in Stuttgard where Captain America was recognized?” 

Darcy narrows her eyes at the reporter. “And you are?” 

“Marsha Lang, the Times.” 

“Well, Marsha, as I said, there will be time for questions later. The Avengers Initiative is an offshoot of the  Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division dedicated to the response of intergalactic or doomsday level threats. In this case, Earth was threatened by an alien entity known as Loki - yes, that Loki. The Avengers you see before you were gathered to deal with that threat.” 

It’s vague enough to answer questions and establish a timeline without delving into completely classified information. Loki is only not classified because she’s introducing Thor. “The Avengers consist of superpowered individuals, aliens, and even us normal non-powered humans. From my right: I’m sure you all are familiar with Tony Stark alias Iron Man. Next is Team Leader, Captain America, Steve Rogers. Then Doctor Bruce Banner alias The Hulk. To my left: Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard. Natasha Romanov as the Black Widow, Clint Barton as Hawkeye.” 

“The Maria Stark Foundation is contributing to the rebuilding efforts along with S.H.I.E.L.D. and FEMA. The casualty count is still coming in but we are happy to report that thanks to the efforts of the Avengers, the danger was contained and the threat eliminated. There is no cause for continued worry of an event of similar attack.” Darcy focuses back on the reporters. “Now, we will take questions.” She points at a reporter as far away from Marsha as possible. 

“Tom Bennet, Associated Press, there are reports of a missile that Iron Man sent through the portal. I have a source that claims it was aimed for New York. What do you have to say about that?” 

Around her, the Avengers scowl. Darcy would love to say some scathing things about the World Security Council, but people aren’t supposed to know about that. “The Avengers Initiative strives to end all intergalactic conflict with the fewest human casualties possible. I can verify that the entire team before you would give their lives rather than sacrifice a city of millions to end an invasion. They were in the process of ending the invasion before the missile was fired and successfully redirected said projectile at great personal risk. Obviously, Mr. Stark survived the task with the help of the Hulk. Next question.” 

“Mr. Stark, were you aware of the missile?” 

Darcy is a bit annoyed that the female reporter didn’t give her name and barely retains an eyeroll at the simpering question. 

Tony leans forward. “No. The Avengers were not consulted in the decision and personally, I think it was a stupid decision and that they were lucky Ironman was able to save human lives. Am I going to get a thank you for that? Probably not.” 

Darcy turns back to the reporters. “Marsha?” 

The woman nods in thanks. “You named Captain America as Steve Rogers, and in Stuttgard he was reported as referring to Hitler, saying ‘the last time I was in Germany and saw one man standing above the rest, we disagreed’. How is it possible that Captain Rogers is here when he was last seen in 1946 before he put a plane into the Atlantic Ocean? Or is this a publicity stunt to garner patriotic support?” 

Darcy twists to look at Steve. He leans forward. 

“Ma’am, I can confirm that I am indeed Captain Steven Grant Rogers, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Never did get the chance to punch the real Hitler in the face. Happy to hear we won the war.” His smile comes with a waving flag and a big band rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Darcy’s impressed with his game face. You wouldn’t know he’s still hurting and struggling with waking up 70 years in the future. “As to how it’s possible, well, that’s a scientific marvel, Miss Lang.” 

“Next,” Darcy says, pushing forward. 

“Clark Rubins, Wall Street Journal, Doctor Banner is wanted by the U.S. Government for terrorist-” 

“I’m going to stop you right there, Mr. Rubins,” Darcy interjects. “Doctor Banner is a valued member of this team who was unjustly targeted by a U.S. general after the government turned their back on his research. He came in from the cold in defense of the human race. He has been cleared of all charges. Next question.” 

“Danielle Everett, Variety. Thor Odinson? As in God of Thunder?”

Darcy gestures at the big guy to answer. Her heart swells with love as he waits for her prompting before he speaks, showing deference. “Indeed, my lady. I am known to you as the God of Thunder, Prince of Asgard.” 

“Asgard? So you’re saying it’s real?” 

“Asgard is indeed real. It is one of the nine realms wherein we have regular travel. I have travelled to Midgard on occasion, most recently to the land of New Mexico where I first met the Lady Darcy. She herself is a most capable warrior and I am proud to call her my shield-sister.” He grins at her. 

“Thanks, big guy.” She looks at her watch. “We’ve got a schedule to keep. One more question.” 

“You keep referring to the Avengers Initiative. No one heard of it before this event. What are the Avengers? How can we get in contact?” 

“You can do so through my office,” Darcy hedges. “Temporarily quartered here in New York City as we deal with the fallout of this attack. Contact information has been distributed to each of your publications. Thank you for your time.” 

She steps back and leads the march to the waiting cars. She slides into the SUV bringing Thor and an imprisoned Loki to Central Park. Darcy lets out a breath as the door shuts behind her and she slumps into the seat. Thor drops a hand on her shoulder. “You did well, Lady Darcy. You are a formidable representative.” 

“Thanks, Thor. You sure you can’t stick around for a while longer? Visit Jane?” She knows the answer already. Fury is already antsy about how long Loki has been on planet. He doesn’t trust their jails to hold the trickster. 

Thor stares back at her with a grim face. 

Darcy shakes her head. “Oh, I know, I know. I’m just not looking forward to telling Jane.” 

“I am sorry to burden you with this, little sister. I shall return as soon as I can. This I swear.” He presses a kiss to her forehead. “I look forward to when we meet again.” 

Darcy stays in the car, watches from a distance as the team reunites and then separates. One eye is on the event, the other on the news feed as she tracks coverage and public opinion. She’s already started her public pages where she can cover social media. She’s already been called in front of various government entities and is thankful Fury has assigned a couple interns under her to start responding to the sudden influx of emails to the Avengers Initiative. 

It’s a good thing she likes this kind of work.

...

Darcy yanks her heels off as soon as she’s in the elevator of the newly minted Avengers Tower. Her feet ache from the press she’s had to deal with and all the meetings she’s had around New York. There’s a certain dress code when it comes to the United Nations and depositions on foreign policy. Apparently creating a whole new dimension to diplomacy requires a lot of paperwork. 

Fury definitely hired her so he wouldn’t have to deal with this. 

The bright side: she’s finally being taken seriously...mostly. She’s still got politicians wondering why they should be listening to a recent college graduate over their policy makers and plenty of leers. The only solace she has is in the fact that both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers - the most notable Avengers both backed her before they disappeared to places unknown. 

Well, less unknown. More Stark wanted time to work in his lab and Steve decided he wanted to travel in this brave new world. She saw Tony and Bruce on a regular basis, Nat still insisted on training, Clint called, and Steve routinely sent her pictures. 

Thank God for Tony or Darcy would be living in SHIELD temporary housing for the past month and a half following the Battle of New York. Instead, she gets to stay in the Avengers Tower because (as Tony put it) every big operation needs an equally momentous home. She has to walk past rubble and construction to and from her home, but it reminds her exactly why she’s doing this. 

Darcy falls against the wall of the elevator. “Please tell me I have nothing left on my schedule, J.” 

In the past, before she spent she spend hours in front of some of the most powerful people in the world, Darcy would have stumbled off the elevator and left her clothes in piles around her apartment. But the clothes will get wrinkles and heaven forbid she gives the judgy representatives of the UN something to bitch about. You know, beyond the fact that she’s fresh out of school and the face of a movement. 

“I believe today you planned to assist with the clean up effort, Miss Lewis. I have also been instructed to let you know that Doctor Foster called. She reached out to Sir for information on the wormhole. He assumed you would not mind, but Miss Potts insisted.” 

“Might as well send her the data. No confidential info or Fury might have my head.” Nevermind that Jane would have her heart if she found out Darcy was the one responsible for dispensing the data to discerning parties. SHIELD had their own battalion of scientists to work on the data (including one Tony Stark), but Darcy could easily rationalize the need to share the information with the foremost astrophysicist on intergalactic travel. As far as she can tell from SHIELD’s scientist profiles, no one else is even close. What good is her position if she can’t disseminate information with a teeny bit of favoritism? 

“Done, Agent Lewis.” 

“Where are we with the clean up today?” Darcy asks as she leaves the elevator on the apartment levels - where she’s the only occupant at the moment. Her room is sparsely decorated. She’s only been coming in to shove food in her face and fall into bed.

“The Stark Foundation is focusing the aid of smaller businesses and residential areas. SHIELD has taken over locations closer to the epicenter of the attack.” 

Darcy nods as she digs through her suitcase to locate a clean change of clothes. “They’re taking custody of all alien technology under intergalactic statutes, which I’m sure they’re making up. Where am I assigned?” 

“I have taken the liberty of assigning you to the work crew in Hells Kitchen.”

Jeans and a nerdy t-shirt paired with a canvas jacket then. Sturdy enough for rough work and not entirely disrespectable. Doc Martens and worn work gloves wait by the door to her apartment to be grabbed on her way back out. She takes a pit stop for a food bar and mourns the loss of a chance to finally use the small kitchen. 

“Agent Lewis,” Jarvis says as she steps into the elevator, “I would like to express my concern for your wellbeing. I cannot help but notice you, as well as sir, are pushing yourself too hard. Perhaps a vacation is in order.” 

Darcy sighs. “I appreciate the concern, J-man. I’ve already put in a request with Director Eyepatch. I owe Jane a visit anyway.” 

“I wish you best of luck, Agent Lewis.” 

“Thanks, J. Thor knows I need it.” 

...

Two weeks vacation and Darcy decides to spend it in Jane’s mother’s cramped apartment in London, where they were  _ supposed _ to go sight-seeing and other terrible tourist things. So many things she should be seeing and instead her life has been dedicated to getting Jane out of her funk. Jane hasn’t seen Thor in two years and since he didn’t come find her after the Battle of New York… 

The data from the wormhole is keeping her plenty busy but it has that manic air of Jane throwing all her attention at a project so she doesn’t focus on what’s really bothering her: Thor missing. Despite proud declarations that she doesn’t care that much, Jane will still glare up at the sky on occasion. 

It was a miracle Jane’s mom got her to actually go on a date with that...what’s his face. Darcy’s phone buzzes and she checks the newest snapchat, chuckling into her mug of coffee at the picture of Clint Barton covered in flour with Natasha Romanov cackling in the background. She sends back a scowly face and types a quick warning about the state of her kitchen. 

Darcy scrolls through tumblr as she slouches in the cafe chair and sips her tea. Normally she mainlines coffee, but Jarvis has been urging her to lower her caffeine intake and for some reason she decided that vacation was time to start...unless of course the world started to end again. She still feels a little uncomfortable leaving her job in the hands of her interns, Fury, and Hill. 

Another snapchat. This time from Steve’s world tour. It’s the World’s Biggest Ball of Yarn, complete with his snarky commentary. She shot back a pic of her tea before sifting right back to her media browsing and moves into news reports. The gravitational anomaly catches her eye and there’s a brief moment where she contemplates not busting in on Jane’s first date in two years. 

Then she realizes Science! takes priority and cheerfully grabs her tea and moves towards the restaurant where Jane is. She finishes the tea and tosses it in the garbage as she reaches the building and checks her hat in the glass window. 

It’s amazing how well the hat can disguise her. Or maybe it’s amazing how little people watch the world news. Or politics. You would think aliens would be more noteworthy, and maybe they are, but who cares about the bureaucrat when you have men in spandex with gorgeous muscles? Darcy likes the face that she can walk around unrecognized in normal clothes. Sure, she grooms herself a little better, which doesn’t hurt anyone. She hasn’t had to get rid of all her hats and sweaters in favor of clean pressed suits. 

She pulls on a little more of the crazy than strictly necessary to get Jane extracted from her date and gets more than a little pleasure from the scandalized looks around her. She doesn’t get to do this as the face of the Avengers Initiative. She gets to embrace the insanity, the millenial state, and she maybe enjoys it a little too much, especially when they get to the car. 

“Who’s this?” Jane asks, squinting at Ian in the driver’s seat. 

“Your new intern,” Darcy responds as she pulls up information on the anomaly to show Jane. “Turn here.” 

“New intern? I don’t need a new intern. You’re my intern.” 

“Jane, Jane, Janey Jane Jane. I’m not your intern.” Darcy points out another road. 

“What do you mean you’re not my intern? You came back after you graduated or whatever. I’d promote you to assistant, but the money is...wait, how are you paying the new intern?” Jane asks as she switches out her fancy shoes for sneakers. 

“Jane, I’m here visiting on vacation and while I’m here I decided to hire you a new intern because you need someone to help you stay organized. So Jane, meet Ian. Ian, Jane. He also answers to Intern, You, and sometimes vague snapping. Try to remember Ian though.” He may or may not be a SHIELD plant. By may she absolutely means is. Fury wants someone on Jane if she’s got her hands on wormhole information. Darcy only agreed because she got discretionary power by pulling Jane in under the Avengers Initiative. 

“So he’s your intern?” 

“No, Janey, he’s your intern. I’m due back in DC in four days.” 

“DC?” 

“Yes, DC. My job. In politics. What I went to school for.” 

“You got a job! Congrats! What are you going to do?” 

“Jane, we talked about this on our last phone call…” She loves Janey, really, she does, but things that are not science evaporate. She sighs, “I’m writing new political policy, working with some iconic people.” 

“That’s great?” Jane frowns slightly. 

“It’s a dream job, Janey. I’m very excited.” Darcy grins. “I’m doing what you do, but with politics.” 

“Trying to revolutionize a field that thinks you’re certifiable?” 

“Exactly,” Darcy declares with a laugh. “Except an attempted alien invasion through a wormhole opening over New York has kind of proven both of our fields right and we’re now ahead of everyone else.” 

Jane lights up and bumps her first with Darcy’s. “Go us.” 

“Go us,” Darcy agrees as the car slows to a stop. “Now, let’s go do some science!” 

… 

“Looks like my vacation is over,” Darcy grumbles as she lifts her phone to her ear. Jane disappeared and she does not have a good feeling. She started by calling the local law enforcement when there was no sign of other information. Now, she’s surrounded by British police who are irritated by a destroyed cop car while Thor and Jane run off to Asgard.

“You better be calling with good news, Agent Lewis.” Fury’s voice is curt.

She pulls her badge from her pocket and shows it to the officer walking towards her, looking ready to argue. “Situation in London, sir.” 

“Define situation.” 

“Wormholes, gravitational anomalies, Thor.” She’s used to Fury at this point, knows to get her point across as quickly as possible. She drops the phone from her ear to glare at the young cop. “Look, officer, this site is officially under the jurisdiction of the Avengers Initiative. Call it in. Set up a perimeter and hold it. Only people allowed in are cleared by me.” 

“Lewis, did you just pull rank?” Fury yells from her phone. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Explain with more words.” 

“We were investigating a gravitational anomaly in England and Doctor Foster disappeared. Local authorities were called in. When she returned, she hadn’t realized so much time had passed, Thor arrived, and she shot red energy from her hands when they tried to take her into custody.” Darcy paces as she talks, already trying to figure out a media response.

“Where are they now?” 

“Can’t say for sure. They hopped on the rainbow bridge to Asgard which says to me that this is the type of alien thing that borders on mystical. In connection with the anti-gravity field...I don’t like it.” 

“Damn it, Lewis,” Fury growls. “You couldn’t have done this hours ago?” 

“Got something else for me work on, sir?” 

“Stark’s AWOL, and before you ask, it does not fall under the Avengers Initiative umbrella. He’s a private citizen. Not a doomsday scenario. London falls to Intergalactic issues. I’ll send a team. Best I’ve got. You’ll be working with the head agent. They’re travelling by quinjet.” Fury sounds tired. 

“Any chance I can get some of my people?” Darcy asks. 

She imagines twitching facial muscles as Fury nearly bursts a vein. “No go, Lewis. Romanoff and Barton were just deployed on a covert op. Rogers is off finding himself and not in the mood to talk SHIELD.” 

Darcy purses her lips. “I could get him on board.” 

“Anything more than the team I’m sending would be overkill.” 

“Rumlow?”

“Try not to sound so excited,” Fury says, “but that’s not who you’re getting. The team I’m sending is a combination of specialists and scientists. They’re not the Avengers, but they should get the job done.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Don’t get all high and mighty on me, Lewis.” 

“Never, sir.” 

Fury mutters something that sounds like smartass before signing off with a gruff: “Keep me updated.” 

Darcy sighs as she slips her phone into her pocket. Her vacation had started off so well, and now all she gets to do is wait. She hates waiting. 

… 

Four hours. Four hours of cold rain and wind as darkness falls. Darcy drags Ian around the rundown building to try to find any other anomalies. She doesn’t know science the way Jane does. She can’t use any sort of detector to find shifts in gravitational pull or whatever it is that pulled Jane down into another dimension or whatever happened. 

“Can’t you do anything?” She asks Ian after they’ve walked in circles for a couple hours. “You’re a physics intern, right?” 

“Um,” Ian stutters, looking around. “You realize this is all theoretical, right? I have basic knowledge, but this field is completely new. The only person who really knows anything is Doctor Foster.” 

“Some help you are, intern.” 

“Ian.” 

Darcy waves a hand at him. There’s a strong gust of wind and Darcy turns her face to find it. She shields her eyes as it grows and reaches for her hidden tazer. It’s either back up or trouble and all she’s got right now is Intern Ian. 

A quinjet materializes in front of them, larger than any of the other transports she’s been on. The SHIELD eagle covers the ramp as it lowers and Darcy releases her hold on her weapon. She’s soaked to the bone, wearing ratty jeans, colorful sweater and beanie, and her trust Doc Martens. She doesn’t look like a SHIELD agent. She’d prefer the power the proper outfit could give her - like a suit of armor. Instead she just has to channel her inner Pepper Potts. 

The first agent down the ramp reminds her of Rumlow, not just because he screams specialist but because of how he looks down his nose at her. At his side is a girl about her age who seems to bounce with excited energy. 

“Are you Agent Lewis?” Rum-look-alike asks. 

Only he doesn’t ask Darcy, but talks over her to Intern Ian. 

Darcy shifts her eyes past him and his shadow and locks on the red car. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

She storms up the ramp and spots the lab with two suspected lab-heads who stare at her with bug eyes as she moves on to the spiral stairs and starts to climb them two at a time in defiance of the shouts to “stop” and “you can’t go up there”. 

“Where is he?” She demands when she finds Agent May standing in the middle of the living area on the quinjet. 

May lifts an eyebrow. 

“Don’t play with me, May. He wouldn’t trust Lola to just anyone and no offense, but even if he entrusted her to you, you wouldn’t bring it with you, so  _ where is he _ ?” 

An iron grip wraps around her upper arm and Darcy reacts the way she was trained. She displaces the grip and flips the man over her shoulder, pulling her tazer from holster and shooting Rum-like in the chest. He seizes at the electric shock and Darcy points the gun at his shadow who is staring in shock. 

“Stark made this bad boy for me. It’s got six shots. Where is Coulson?” 

“That’s not necessary, Agent Lewis. I’m here.” 

She turns the gun on him. “Want to tell me how that’s possible, sir?” 

“Classified.” 

“Not good enough,” she says. “Give me one good reason not to shoot you too.” May steps between them. 

“Can’t let you do that, Lewis. It was need to know.” 

“And I didn’t need to know.” It comes out as a growl, not a question. “The  _ Avengers _ didn’t need to know?” That’s when the dots connect. “Fury.” 

“Lewis-” 

“I’m going to shoot that Eyepatch-wearing, overdramatic, MIB in an unmentionable place. They  _ mourned _ you, Phil. He got blood on your Captain America trading cards. He told everyone you  _ died _ . How are you so calm about this?” 

“Technically I did die.” Coulson says cheerfully, peeking around May’s shoulder. “SHIELD has excellent medical.” 

Darcy narrows her eyes. “Fury sent you as back-up. Did he think he could hide you on this mission?” 

“Actually, I was hoping to have Agent May talk to you first. Agent Ward was supposed to talk to you first.” He looks meaningfully at the agent who is only now standing up with the help of his shadow. Ward rubs his chest and glare reproachfully at Darcy. 

“Well, maybe if he hadn’t approached the intern first, I would have been more receptive.” 

Coulson glances at Ward as Darcy slides her taser into the holster and glances around the room again. Intern Ian stands with the two eggheads by the stairs. “Is this everyone? We’ve got what? Two specialists, training wheels agent, so you must be the science types?” 

The petite woman waves. “Doctor Jemma Simmons. And this is Leo Fitz. but most people just call us Fitzsimmons because we’re always together.” 

“Which one of you has the degree in astrophysics?” 

“Um, well, mostly, I do biochem-” 

“And I’m engineering. Did...Did I hear you correctly? Tony Stark built that?” He points at the taser. 

“Do they do that often?” Darcy asks.

“Finish each other’s sentences?” The shadow nods. “Yeah. I’m Skye by the way.” 

“Nice to meet you, Skye. Agent in training?” She waves off the answer. Damnit - she’s started picking up Tony’s habits. “Just don’t pick up any of Ward’s bad habits.” She claps her hands together suddenly and turns, causing the science types to jump in surprise. “Alright, I need you two to get to work on the anomaly outside. We’ve got some kind of gravitational field that disrupts normal gravity...or something. I’m not a scientist. Doctor Jane Foster was investigating…” 

“Doctor Foster? The astrophysicist? Is she here?” Fitz looks around excitedly. 

“She’s on Asgard. Should I assume they’ve got clearance?” Darcy asks, turning back to Coulson. 

“We’re here to help contain the incident.” 

“Here’s the thing, Phil-man, I’m not sure this is an isolated incident. The gravitational field drew us here, but something happened to Doctor Foster. Thor brought her back to Asgard - we assume - ergo we should be looking into the anomalies. There’s a great chance that this small incident is leading to something bigger and we need to figure out what.” 

“I’m sorry,” Agent Ward says suddenly. “But who is she and why is she giving orders?” 

Darcy stares at him. “Did you train under an Agent Rumlow?” 

He frowns at her. “Who?” 

She points at him. “There’s something there. Anyway, this is my jurisdiction which is why you’re reporting to me.” 

“ _ Your  _ jurisdiction?” 

“Intergalactic affairs.” 

“What?” 

“Relating to our planet and others. Technically Doomsday scenarios too, but that’s more for the heavy hitters. I’m just PR.” She turns back to Phil. “Don’t think we’re done talking about your little bait-and-switch resurrection. I know at least one captain who can give a hell of a disappointed face. That’s not even counting the Russian assassin and Pepper Potts. If you think I’m keeping this from my team, you’ve got another thing coming, but first, let’s get on top of this situation.” 

Her phone buzzes. She scowls at the video that pops up on her alerts. “And now Eric is running around naked at Stonehenge.” Darcy throws her hands up in the air. “All I wanted was a damn vacation, and this is what I get. Intern is with me. Coulson, can you handle...this?” 

“Certainly, Agent Lewis. We do have experience with Anti-matter and gravitational anomalies.” Phil says. 

Darcy blinks at him. “Of course you do.” She sighs. “I’ll check back in after we’ve got Eric. Let me know if anything changes.” 

… 

A convergence. Of course a mystical event of cosmic proportions coincided with her vacation. A damn convergence where the nine realms overlapped at the evil elves of evil were trying to take over the world and it all just so happened to be right where she was visiting Jane. Because whyever would she get a break? 

Darcy stares up at the portals in the sky, because this has to be worse than New York so there’s eight of them that are going to layer one on top of the other. And Steve can’t get to London before it’s going to happen. Coulson’s team is barely helpful: each of them has one of the teleportation stick things. Intern Ian is just following her around and while she’s trained with some of SHIELD’s best agents, she’s still not really prepared to fight aliens. 

“I really thought this job would be less hands on,” Darcy shouts to Coulson over the rushing of the wind. She ends up shouting over nothing as the incident abruptly ends, leaving them in a destroyed street with rubble as their only companions.

Phil laughs. “I don’t think you could do anything else, Agent Lewis.” 

She scrunches her face, but can’t argue with that. “But it’s much more fun being hands on when the Avengers are single.” She wags her eyebrows at Phil and leers. “It’s less fun when the alien involved is dating your best friend.” 

The rest of her day is consumed by press junkets and damage control. She finally touches base with Tony and Pepper. Both are physically okay and working on the emotional aspect of that. Any more details and she’d have to start digging. Natasha and Clint are still out of reach. Banner hasn’t left his lab. Steve is en route to assist. Darcy’s office is fielding questions left and right.

“Agent Lewis?” 

She looks up from her phone. Rum-look-alike stands at the door of the tent, which is currently acting as her office as SHIELD sifts through the rubble for alien artifacts. “Agent Ward?” 

“There’s...someone here to see you.” 

She looks down at her outfit. She changed into an emergency suit when she realized she would need to report to the press. A magical bit of intuition forced her into a blue blouse that at least hides any soot. She slides her phone into a pocket. “The press conference was at 2.” 

“It’s not a reporter,” Ward has a glint in his eye that Darcy is not a fan of. 

“Who is it?” She checks her firearm. “It’s not Fury, is it?” 

Ward just smiles blandly and walks out of the tent. Darcy rolls her eyes and follows him out, eyes immediately tracking to the edge of the perimeter where the press is still getting their footage. Ward gestures to a figure currently speaking to three cameras. One news anchor is laughing and caressing a rather muscular looking arm. 

“It looks like someone’s encroaching on your territory,” Ward taunts. “Might want to get on that, Agent Lewis.” 

She smiles brightly. “Good point, Agent Ward.” She picks her way through the rubble to the large man wearing a leather jacket. As she draws closer, Ward trailing behind, she hears him joking agreeably with the anchor. 

“Well, I was a bit busy getting reacquainted with the good ole U. S. of A, Ma’am. I heard about the developing situation just four hours ago. I got reports in the air. I’m just happy that Thor and Doctor Foster were able to contain the situation with the help of SHIELD.” Darcy walks up at the end of his statement. 

“So you don’t think this could have been handled better with the rest of the Avengers? Or do you think the Avengers were more willing to help because New York was the city under attack?” 

Steve straightens. “Ma’am, I’m sure you’re probably aware of this: SHIELD was founded by a good friend of mine and a loyal British woman, Margaret Carter. It was my fault for being out of reach: I’m still learning the new technology. However, that does not mean that the Avengers Initiative was not on the front lines of this event. Director of the Initiative, Darcy Lewis, was on scene and alerted us at the first possible moment.” 

He shifts to the side as Darcy joins him even though he doesn’t glance over at all. “Director Lewis brought in the needed support and, while I don’t have a casualty report, I would not have handled this any differently.” 

“While there are several injuries, so far there are no reported fatalities,” Darcy supplies. “The Maria Stark Foundation has already mobilized, and we hope to have this area cleaned in the next week. In fact, Captain Rogers is here to help with the clean up effort.” 

He winks at her before he turns back to the news anchor. “I never could turn away from someone who needed help. It’s important to know that the Avengers Initiative isn’t just here to stop threats, but to support the planet too. Part of being a hero isn’t just fighting, it’s about taking care of people too. And on that note, I should relieve some of our workers. Excuse me.” 

Steve ducks under the tape as the news anchor gives her closing statement. Darcy falls into step beside him. “Let’s head to the command tent.” 

“Trying to keep us from prying eyes, doll,” Steve says with a grin and a wink. 

Her heart skips a beat as she laughs. “Oh the things I would do if we were in private, soldier, but as fun as that would be, this is a little more serious.” 

Steve takes a step forward to brush aside the fabric door for Darcy. “Something more than what you already sent.” 

“It was a little too sensitive to send in a data dump.” She leads the way as the tent transitions into the bins separating building rubble from alien artifacts. She pauses before the second door. “Steve...about that SHIELD team.” 

“Do I finally get to meet this Rumlow Clint and Natasha were talking about?” The smile slips off his face as he recognizes the seriousness in Darcy’s eyes. “Darcy?” 

“It’s Agent Coulson.” 

“What about Agent Coulson?” 

“He’s alive.” She rips off the bandaid and then rushes to cover the open wound as quickly as possible. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone because it’s not that kind of information. I can come up with press briefings. It’s my job to share information in just the right way, but I couldn’t figure out how to tell you.” 

She takes a quick breath. “It was Fury. His twisted version of getting you to work together. I don’t buy it completely. I saw the report. There’s something else going on here. May won’t talk to me but she more or less told me to stop looking into it. Ward’s a creep, but the rest of the team doesn’t seem so bad. I just didn’t want you to walk in there and be...surprised. Shocked.” 

“Darcy.” Steve’s hands land on her shoulders and he bends his knees to look into her eyes more directly. “It’s a relief that for all the people I’ve lost, one came back. He’s in there.” 

With her nod, Steve squeezes her shoulders. He straightens and nods. “Then I guess I should say hi. Think he’s still got those cards?” 

Darcy snorts. “Get in there, Captain.” 

He salutes her and then winks. 

Darcy watches him walk through the next door and pulls her phone back out. She’s got people to check in with and reports to make. Her phone now makes global calls and she’s got the numbers for some of the most important people in the world. She’s stopped taking care of scientists and moved on to heroes. 

How the hell is this her life? 

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd because I wrote almost all of this in one sitting. I hope you enjoyed this take! Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!


	5. Trustworthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha looks for Darcy's help setting up Steve, and Darcy starts to have doubts about SHIELD.

**Trustworthy**

Despite her months in the new job, Darcy still experiences surreal moments when she can’t believe she has an office and people that report to her. Technically she has a whole floor in the Triskelion, and another couple in Stark’s tower in New York City, which he may or may not be trying to draw her into by renaming it Avengers Tower. Darcy’s personally a bit lost as to what Tony expects now that the team is currently all over the place. 

Thor and Jane are currently at the tower, which is basically just a stopping point between Jane’s world tour of various lectures. She gets daily and weekly updates from an exuberant Thor, who is adorably proud of all Jane has accomplished. He brags about her to all that will listen, including the press who show up hoping to speak to the legendary alien. Despite her brief panic after London, Thor proved to be capable of dealing with any and all questions by simply talking adoringly of Jane. 

Bruce is busy being science bros with Tony, which is a different kind of concerning for Darcy, but doesn’t overlap into her job because it is not “doomsday” level (yet), nor is it intergalactic. Tony wants her as PR for the Avengers full time. He insists that it won’t stop her from working on policy, but Darcy’s not ready to move yet. 

Clint, Nat, and Steve are in SHIELD with her and routinely stop by her office. As she’s really only in charge when there’s an emergency except where Thor is concerned, they mainly just meet up as friends. Or when Nat feels like kicking her ass in the guise of training. Nat somehow also convinced Clint to take her out to the shooting range. Darcy’s convinced it’s because she doesn’t want her training with Rumlow. 

“What about Veronica?” 

Darcy blinks in surprise and looks at the chair across from her desk, a chair that had definitely been empty a minute ago. “Veronica? In IT? For what?” 

“Steve,” Natasha says patiently, popping a bubble of gum. “He needs to get out more.” 

“Why Veronica?” Darcy asks. She ignores the pang of discomfort in her chest at working on this behind Steve’s back. 

“She’s a modern woman. She can help him not be such an old man.” 

Darcy snorts. “He uses Snapchat more than I do.” 

“He hasn’t been on a date since he came out of the ice. It’s not healthy.” 

Darcy edits another request for information on Asgard. She still needs to work on a better diplomatic pathway. Talking through Thor to get to Odin is not working. The world wants more information on Thor, on his people. They need an embassy, not that she can convince Thor of that. “Steve’s a big boy. He can make those decisions.” 

“Tony is threatening to pay someone to take his virginity.” 

“Pretty sure Steve isn’t a virgin,” Darcy says distractedly. 

“You know that from experience?” 

The question jars Darcy from her distracted work. She jerks around to stare at Natasha’s shit eating grin. Darcy snorts as the surprise ebbs into amusement. “You think I wouldn’t be bragging to the whole building if I got the salute from the Big Red, White and Blue? Not to mention, if I got to third base with America’s favorite past time, and the Black Widow didn’t know, did it even happen? And if it’s his virtue you’re worried about, who better to take it than the soviet spy? Oh, a whole different kind of red scare!” 

Natasha smirks. “We’re just teammates. As his friends, I think we need to get him laid. He needs a stress relief.” 

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Steve’s a big boy. He can fend for himself.” 

She gets a snort in response. “So no to Veronica?” 

“I’m saying that Steve can get himself a date with whomever he wants without a spider’s interference.” She picks up another folder and wonders when her interns started giving her paper copies of documents. Probably when she broke her tablet for the second time, now that she thinks about it. She likes the satisfaction that comes with ripping up pieces of paper in frustration. 

“Should I try another route? There’s always Beth in Accounting.” 

“Surprisingly, my job is not matchmaking,” Darcy says as she strikes through a line of a press draft, substitutes a word. 

“You could always ask him out?” 

Darcy laughs out loud. “Hilarious. You should do stand up.” 

“Why? You two get along like ice cream and apple pie. Baseball and America. Stars and Stripes.” 

“Really? Usually it’s me or Tony with all the patriotic references.” Her phone rings and Darcy picks it up with only a quick glance at the ID. “Black Widow’s House of Matchmaking. Love you’ll die for. How can I direct your call?” 

There’s a choking sound on the other end that transforms into deep-bellied laughter in a higher voice than Darcy expected. She looks back at the caller ID and puts the phone back to her ear. The laughter is definitely feminine and not at all Clint. “You’re not William Tell.” 

Natasha raises an eyebrow. 

“You must be Darcy Lewis. Who is Nat trying to set you up with?” 

“The Man with a Plan,” Darcy answers, “it seems you have me at a disadvantage: I don’t know your name.” 

“Laura Barton.” 

Darcy blinks and looks up at Nat who simply smirks. “And was our favorite spider your love connection?” 

“Other way around. Clint’s my brother-in-law.” 

“Fascinating. I’m even more impressed Clint has survived this long.” Darcy leans back to look at Natasha. “So this is a case of ‘my life is fulfilled so I have to set everyone else up’?” 

“Because it would be such a hardship to date Captain America.” 

“Steve Rogers. Captain America is in a committed relationship with Uncle Sam. Or is it Lady Liberty?” Darcy puts her paper down. “What can I do for you, Little John?” 

“I prefer Will Scarlet. Clint wanted me to talk to you, as his and Nat’s emergency contact.” 

“So that means you have all the good blackmail.” 

“You’ll need to visit sometime. Clint will be back any minute and realize I’ve stolen his phone. Nice to meet you, Lewis.” 

“Back at you, Scarlet. Don’t be a stranger.” 

“Who was that?” Nat asks with a shit-stirring smile that says she knows the answer. 

“Will Scarlet. Giving me all the gossip on Maid Marian. I always knew she was more bad ass than Robin Hood.” Darcy looks Nat over. “You about to head out?” 

“Yup. Gotta go pick up the antique first. So, Veronica?” 

Darcy rolls her eyes. “You can suggest it, but he’s not going to ask her. He’s not going to ask anyone you suggest. You realize that, right?” 

Nat smiles in a way that says she’ll never accept defeat until Captain America is in a loving relationship. She saunters out of the room with a promise to stop in when she’s back in D.C. just as Darcy’s phone rings again. This time it’s her office phone directly from Fury. Her phone chimes with a text and her crazy world sucks her back in. 

* * *

“Who’s Veronica?” 

Darcy closes her eyes and leans back on the bench. It’s past midnight, nearing sunrise, and she’s sitting in the middle of the Mall, staring into space with a McDonald’s coffee in her hand because it was the only open place she could find. She looks Steve over and smiles. “I see you’re back in one piece. Heard you jumped out of a plane without a parachute.” 

“We were over water. Veronica?” 

“Honestly? No idea. She asked me about it before you left. Did you really jump out of a plane to avoid her matchmaking?” 

Steve steals her cup of coffee and takes a sip. 

“Hey! Stealing a girl’s cup of coffee! I thought your old timey values were better than that.” 

“You should be asleep,” Steve admonishes. “I was out on assignment. What’s your excuse?” 

“Thor threw a party in some European city. It’s still going on but because it’s Thor-” 

“It’s Intergalactic,” Steve fills in. “Does that mean you’re flying out?” 

“Nah. Convinced Fury to send Clint to deal with it.” 

“Really?” Steve frowns. “Are you sure that’s wise?” 

It’s not like she’s not concerned. Darcy pulls out her phone to check for new calls or texts. “He was closest. My brain turned to mush hours ago so I can’t tell you where he was or where they are now, but he’s not it. He’s on damage control. Thor can mostly handle himself. I would have sent Tony, but that seemed like the equivalent of throwing oil on a fire.” She rubs her hands over her eyes and grimaces as she feels what’s left of her make-up smear. 

Steve taps his fingers against the plastic lid of her stolen coffee cup. It’s a nervous tic he usually isn’t prone to. His foot taps and she notices he hasn’t changed out of his stealth suit and she can see the glint of his iconic shield resting against the other side of the bench. 

“Steve, did something happen?” Her hand lands on top of his and squeezes. 

In his silhouette, Darcy sees the muscles in his jaw work. He glances sideways at her. That alone sets her on edge. Steve isn’t one to show his nerves in such a visible way. 

“Steve.” 

“Fury. Do you trust him?” 

She blinks. “Captain Eyepatch? About as far as I can throw him. I trust him to act in the best interest of the world, but as to what that means?” Darcy shrugs. “Fury plays his cards close to his chest.” 

“What about you, Darcy? Where are your priorities?” 

She twists to face him. “I like to think I’m a little more on the level. I don’t deal in secrets. What happened on the mission?” 

“What about Natasha?” 

“Steve, you’re starting to freak me out. What happened?” 

More tapping on the lid of the cup. 

Darcy grabs his face and forces him to look at her. Stubble scrapes at her hands and his blue eyes dart all over her face. “Talk to me.” 

“Do you know about the helicarriers?” 

She frowns. “The only one I know of is the one that served as command for the Loki incident. I never had the pleasure of going onboard, but Bruce still shudders to think of it.” 

“No. The ones here in DC.” 

“As in multiple? In DC?” Darcy drops back into the bench. “Are you sure?” 

“Fury took me to them. He said something about another line of defense.” Steve watches her carefully. 

“Mother fucker.” Darcy stands and starts to pace as her mind races through Fury’s possible train of thought. Her brain is too bogged down with exhaustion for her to keep this internalized. She mutters without a thought. “He’s paranoid. He wouldn’t just trust world security to one branch. His back-ups have back-ups. He’s phased out the tesseract weapons. He has to have something in the works if the Avengers Initiative ever fails, if they can’t respond the way they need to, if they turn. We’ve proven you won’t listen to him unconditionally. Fury doesn’t like when he’s not in control. Damn spies.” 

“I hate to ask, but I have to: where do your loyalties lie?” 

Darcy spins to face Steve. “Are you seriously asking me that right now? Fucking spies. What did Nat have to say?” 

“She was taking Fury’s orders.” Steve looks as tired as she feels as he drops his head into his hands. “How...it seemed so much simpler when we were just fighting Nazis.” His shoulders start to shake. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.” 

“So walk away. There’s nothing that says you have to stay with SHIELD.” Darcy sits back down beside him, bumping her knee against his. “It wouldn’t change your position on the Avengers. You’re still field commander.” 

“I can’t spend the rest of my time doing nothing. I am not made that way.” He leans back and one hand drops to grab hers where it rests on her knee. “I wanted to do this because I wanted to help the world. I’m not sure that’s what I’m doing anymore.” 

Darcy flips her hand over to squeeze Steve’s. “So we find you another way to help. You’re not just Captain America, Steve. You don’t owe SHIELD anything. Or the Avengers Initiative. Go back to art school. Get a degree in something. Join the Army again. Run for office. Do theater. Act in another movie.” 

He chuckles. “You know, none of that sounds appealing. Maybe the art, but I’ve never been one for books. I like to be doing something and I’d rather leave the politicking to you, doll.” He runs a thumb over her knuckles. “Think Stark will have something for me?” 

Darcy’s heart skips a beat as Steve’s tone slips from aggravated to flirtatious. “He’ll probably make you film a bunch of PSAs with your showgirl persona.” Darcy nudges into Steve’s side, teasing. Then she sighs. She doesn’t want to read too much into Steve’s interactions. He’s alone in a new world and he’s struggling to keep his head above water. Contrary to Nat’s belief, he needs a friend, not a girlfriend. “Did you know Clint has a brother?” 

He releases his grip on her hand, and sits back. He throws his arm over the back of the bench. The way his hand plays with the curls that have escaped her updo does not help her distraction as he asks: “He does?” 

Darcy blinks for a moment. It’s not her exhaustion that delays her, although she will absolutely blame it on that. “Been texting his wife most of the day.” 

“Clint’s married?” 

“His brother is. She’s Clint and Nat’s emergency contact apparently,” Darcy shares. She reaches for her phone to pull up the text conversation so she won’t have to make awkward eye contact. “She called me today while Nat was talking about setting you up with Veronica.” 

Steve rolls his eyes. “She’s got you working on this too?” 

Darcy rests her head on his shoulder with a teasing smirk. “What can I say? The Black Widow is a terrible influence.” Reluctantly, she straightens again. “Have you ever actually let her set you up?”

“You need to get to bed,” Steve mutters, “You’re starting to talk nonsense.” 

“She might have a point about you needing to live your life. You can’t tell me Peggy hasn’t told you the same thing.” Darcy worries she might be pushing too hard as Steve’s face twists in a scowl. “It’s been years, Steve.” 

He sighs. “We’re both too tired to have this conversation right now.” 

Darcy wants to argue. They need to have this conversation. Natasha doesn’t do the straight-foward heart to hearts. Peggy’s brain isn’t what it once was. Steve had brought Darcy to meet his former flame once. It was a dream come true: meeting her hero in the flesh. She’d had to leave to take a call from Fury and when she came back, Steve’s face was red and Peggy made her promise to never let Steve wall himself off. 

It feels like he’s building too many walls lately. 

“You can’t avoid the topic forever. Just like you can’t avoid Natasha forever. I’d say she’s your best friend, but I also like to think I’m pretty high up the list too.” She stiffles a yawn. “Also I know you’re not blind, Rogers. I’ve seen you checking me out. Also Thor. Should I tell Natasha she’s barking up the wrong tree? You know, Rodney in Weapons Design is hot and definitely swings that way.” 

Steve huffs. 

“Don’t think Peggy didn’t scandalize me with some sordid details about the Howling Commandos. I mean, the history books speculate, but when Agent Carter confirms that, yes, Bucky Barnes was that attractive, and yes, there was sexual tension, it puts in the trenches stories on a whole other level. Also, don’t tell Tony because talk about traumatic events, but did you ever sleep with Howard? Because he definitely had a boner for Captain America.” 

Darcy is well aware that she’s well past tired and into loopy-drunk exhausted. She just invoked Bucky, Peggy and Howard in one rant. Any one of those names has the ability to shut Steve down even on a good day. She and Steve don’t talk about love, past or present. Maybe the exhaustion is what keeps her from backtracking. 

“Even Tony might. Not saying for sure and he’s got that thing with Pepper, so don’t try to hit that. Unless you’re into both. That could be a fun thing: sleep with both and then tell me about it.” Darcy leers at Steve, allowing herself to be outrageous to play her words off as a joke. She would absolutely sleep with Tony and Pepper. Talk about power couple goals. 

“I’m not one to kiss and tell, Doll,” Steve drawls. There’s a lightness to his words she wouldn’t expect if he were upset with her, so that’s a plus. 

“Oh, come on, Rogers! Not even a little bit?” 

“Not even a little bit, sweetheart.” 

“You’re no fun.” 

He gets a far away look in his eyes. “It’s never fun to share when it means something.” 

Darcy blinks. “So Tony and Pepper-” 

“Not Tony and Pepper,” Steve corrects. “Back then it wasn’t something you talked about. Did you know SHIELD never told me about the Civil Rights Movement? Didn’t think it was important.”

Darcy snorts. “SHIELD is a bit stupid with personal issues. How did you find out?” 

Steve glances over at her and shrugs. “Ran across a PRIDE parade. Looked into it.” 

“And Tony thinks you don’t know about Google,” Darcy says, chuckling. “I trust that when you get a serious boyfriend, you’ll tell me about him.” 

“Why do you work for SHIELD?” 

“Because my thesis pretty much blacklisted me and then SHEILD was the only one to offer me a serious job. I wanted to work on intergalactic policy.” Darcy shrugs. That’s all there is currently. “Tony is trying to take over the Avengers Initiative. I can’t tell if it’s because he likes to buy everything or because he  _ really  _ doesn’t trust SHIELD.” 

“After what I saw today, I’m going to go with ‘doesn’t trust SHIELD’,” Steve mutters. 

“That may be the case, but I’m not really in favor of privatizing world peace,” Darcy says with a sigh, eyes fixed on the Washington Monument. “I just need to find a way to make it publicly funded. Stark may be comfortable with all the money coming from him, but I’m not.” 

She sighs. “To be honest, making New York Home Base for the Avengers Initiative makes about as much sense as Washtington. At least New York has the United Nations.” And it’s within travelling distance. Darcy groans and drops her head into her hands. “You know sometimes I would just love to act like any other twenty-four year old. None of them are leading the way on foreign policy. They’re all going out drinking and making stupid mistakes.” 

Steve laughs and claps her on the back. “Come on, sweetheart. Let me get you home.” 

Darcy groans. “You coming on to me, Soldier?” She winks up at him and attempts a leer although her eyes keep fluttering shut so she’s not sure she manages it. 

“When you’re more awake we can talk.” Steve says as he wraps an arm around her waist. “Come on, Lewis.” 

“I’m just going to crash in the office for a couple hours,” Darcy mumbles. “Got to be in in a couple hours anyway.” 

“Nope.” Without warning, Steve swings her up into his arms. “I’m dropping you off at home to actually sleep.” 

Darcy would argue more, but there’s something inherently safe and comfortable about Steve’s arms. She mutters a token protest into his arm. When she’s more awake, she might even be a bit embarrassed about it. For now, though, she lets the rocking of his steps lull her to sleep. 

* * *

Darcy wakes up well into the afternoon to news of a car chase downtown, followed by a shoot-out, which is completely interrupted by a call from Clint. 

“Is this Robin Hood or Will Scarlet?” She asks the speaker phone as she tosses it on the counter and pours herself a cup of coffee. Her tablet is already cycling through news updates including pictures of Thor and Clint partying in Europe. 

“Who is Will Scarlet? Are you cheating on me with other archers?” 

Darcy flicks faster through the pictures. It looks like they’re just partying with the locals. No heinous damage to public (or private) property. “Bold of you to assume you’re Robin Hood, Hawkguy. How’s your hangover?” 

“Surprisingly light, probably because I never went to sleep. What’s going on over there?” 

An alert pops up on her tablet. Darcy frowns at the red box and boxy writing. “Apparently Fury was in a car chase. Status unknown. Attackers also unknown. I’ve got orders to come into base.” She taps for more instructions. “Apparently an Agent Pierce is now in charge.” 

“Alexander Pierce? He’s one of those big dogs. Was the Director before Fury. Him calling you in is a big deal. Get Tash to go with you.” Clint sounds tired. 

Darcy frowns. “You think it’s that big of a deal?” 

“Rather be safe than sorry. Maybe I’m paranoid, but it’s kept me alive this long, right? I’m texting her now. She got back last night-” 

“With Steve,” Darcy finishes, remembering their conversation on the mall. “Hey, does Tash often do sidequests for his royal one-eyed-ness?” 

Clint quiets. Before she could hear fidgeting but now it’s like he has gone silent. “If the director-” 

“That’s all I needed to know. Thanks, birdman.” Darcy’s not mad. She wanted to confirm Steve’s story, wanted to make sure that if there was something shady going on. She has a personal investment in keeping her people safe and ensuring they can trust each other. “You still good covering Thor?” 

“My last orders detailed me to the Avengers Initiative. Until Fury calls me off, I’m yours. No side missions.” The last statement is so cold it bites. She wishes it didn’t hurt so much but she’s glad for the confirmation. “Nat’s on her way to you. She says she doesn’t like what’s going on. Want me to take Thor and come back stateside?” 

“No,” Darcy says. She scrolls through the incident reports from her couple of interns as she packs her work bag. “It’ll be better to have you out of reach if things escalate. You spies are dramatic but something feels wrong about this whole mess. Your paranoia is contagious.” 

Her doorbell rings. 

“Good. Paranoia keeps you alive. But seriously, who is Will Scarlet?” 

“Laura,” Darcy says as she checks the peephole before opening the door for Nat. “You got here quickly.” 

“I was already on my way. Everyone’s on high alert. When you weren’t in the office, people got antsy.” Nat looks around the room, eyes darting to what Darcy has already been informed are weak points by Nat, Clint, and Steve. Tony tried to install JARVIS, but Darcy was sure she would never get her security deposit back if he did that so she refused. It was a safe enough neighborhood, especially with the spies coming and going at odd hours. 

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait...Nat, you introduced her to Laura without me. Aw no! That’s just mean!” Clint cries from her phone. “Why would you do that?” 

“She stole my number from your phone.” Darcy says. “And why would you want to keep us apart? That’s rude! Laura is the Will Scarlet to my Much the Miller’s Son!” 

Clint squacks. “That analogy makes no sense!’ 

“Fine, then Alan A’Dale.” 

“Why not Maid Marian?” Clint responds with what her clearly intends to be a flirty response. 

Darcy raises an eyebrow at Natasha who is walking around her kitchen with a lazy cat-like prowl. “Heard that position was already taken. Gotta say, not at all surprised that Maid Marian is more badass than Robin Hood. Never send a man to do a woman’s job.” 

Clint’s laugh is so stilted and forced it sounds painful. “Wha-I don’t-Ha! That’s a good joke.” 

“Aw, Bowman, is that supposed to be convincing? I thought you were a spy.” Darcy shares a smirk with Nat. “As fun as this has been, the spider and I have to run. You keep Hammer Time preoccupied.” 

“Sure, sure, I’ll just do that. Probably suffer minor dehydration from constant inebriation and fall off some more buildings, but sure. Sounds fun. When did I sign up for this shit?” 

“That’s the spirit, Link!” Darcy picks up her phone on the way out the door. “Go drink and be merry!” 

“You’re killing me, Smalls!” Clint shouts before Darcy ends the call and throws the phone into her jacket pocket. 

“So, what’s up at the office?” Darcy asks conversationally as she follows Nat to the sports car parked outside her building. She’s stopped asking how Nat gets the best parking every time. She chalks it up to a spy superpower. 

“Fury’s body wasn’t found where his vehicle was hit. SHIELD is on a hunt for his attackers but also trying to track the Director. He’s gone to ground. We’re trying to figure out if it’s isolated or an attack on SHIELD.” 

“Is that why we’re all being called in?” Darcy asks lightly as she slides across the seat when Nat takes a turn too quickly.

Natasha’s face loses her customary tease. Her brow furrows and Darcy is immediately more on alert now. If the mask has slipped that means something is up. 

“Nat?”

“We’re not all called in. Strike teams are on standby. Safe houses are being searched methodically, but there’s been nothing to indicate anything intergalactic. It could be that they’re just gathering the department heads.” Natasha shrugs. “Safest place for you is the Triskelion. If that changes, we’ll get you to Stark.” 

Darcy sighs as they reach the bridge and Natasha gets waved immediately through. 

“We could call Tony now,” Nat offers. 

Darcy immediately shakes her head. “No. Clint and Thor are on standby. He’s still dealing with the Mandarin fallout.” She watches the agents milling around with their standard purpose, even if there are more of them than usual. “No need to freak everyone out when we don’t know the situation. Plus, Hulk and Ironman will just escalate whatever it is.” 

“Steve?” Nat asks as she parks the car. 

“I’ll text him a heads up, but I get the feeling he’s more useful on the outside,” Darcy lets Nat guide her as she texts and walks across the main lobby. Steve probably doesn’t want to be anywhere near the Triskelion or Natasha right now. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be on leave for twenty-four hours after your last mission?” 

Natasha shrugs as she leans nonchalantly against the wall of the glass elevator. “I had a meeting with Fury this morning, right before his accident. Don’t look at me,” Nat says, voice iron. “There are cameras in this elevator but not sound. Laugh.” 

Darcy chokes out a laugh. She turns her back to where she guess the camera will be so she stares out the glass wall. “What’s wrong, Widow?” 

Nat smiles widely. “Just an uneasy feeling. I don’t like not knowing. Watch your back today, Lewis. Keep your phone on you.” 

As if a Millennial would be caught dead without her phone. She waves to her interns who seem too captivated by the scrolling news to react to her presence. Darcy pushes open her door and pauses with it half open as she notices the older gentleman standing by the floor to ceiling windows, observing the city. She relaxes marginally when she also finds Rumlow seated on her couch, swirling water around a glass. 

She walks into the room and places her tablet on the desk. “Rumlow. Fancy seeing you here.” Darcy turns to the man staring out the window. He looks vaguely familiar, maybe even a bit handsome if older. Or he would if his aura wasn’t tarnished by Rumlow’s presence. “I suppose that makes you Alexander Pierce.” 

The man turns to her with a raised eyebrow. Darcy holds her hand out. “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.” 

His eyes dart to Rumlow and back to Darcy. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lewis. I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.” 

“Director,” Darcy corrects. If he’s bringing this meeting to the Initiative’s offices, she’s going to make damn sure he uses her title. 

“Excuse me?” 

He’s not a man used to being corrected. “Agent works as well if you’re here on SHIELD business, but if it concerns the Initiative, my title is Director.” Darcy gestures to the couch Rumlow’s lounging on. “Please, have a seat.” 

Pierce’s eyes are frozen even as he smiles and offers pretty words of apology. He takes a seat beside an amused Rumlow. 

“So what circumstances do you want to talk about?” Darcy asks.

“This nasty business with Nick- uh, Director Fury.” 

_ Oh, look, a clever reminder about how well he knows Eyepatch _ , Darcy monologues in her head. Because white men in power always need to remind you of how much pull they have. “Has he been found?” 

“We still have teams out looking,” Pierce says. “As former Director and his chosen representative on the World Security Council, I am stepping up as temporary director until we can confirm Director Fury is well.” 

“Of course,” Darcy agrees cordially. “A power vacuum would be disastrous. Do we suspect alien involvement?” 

“No, not as of yet, Director Lewis. We just haven’t ruled anything out.” If Natasha and Clint hadn’t already piqued her paranoia, Darcy probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it. As it is, this surprise visit sets off about a thousand alarms in her head. “It appears there have been files classified under the Avengers Initiative that may be pertinent to our investigations.” 

Darcy frowns. “As far as I know, Director Pierce, the only documents classified under the Avengers Initiative pertain to the Avengers. All files which would be relevant in an investigation should still be tied into the SHIELD the system. If you run across any DNA or signatures, we should be notified, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

“Ah, we’re more concerned about a subset of files related to missing weapons developed using alien te-” 

“You mean, the Tesseract,” Darcy clarifies. Her frown now feels like a permanent fixture. 

“I believe that’s what it was called,” he says with a blithe smile. “We think weapons designed with the Tesseract might have been used to target Director Fury.” 

Darcy reaches for her tablet to see any signs that an investigation has connected to her department, but sees nothing. “Our forensic teams usually scan for gamma radiation and found nothing at the scene.” 

“Agent Lewis, I was assured you cared for the survival of the human race,” Pierce says with a glance at Rumlow. “This technology is beyond our understanding and therefore could have ways of avoiding detection. I came to speak to you on a hunch Agent Rumlow had.” 

Darcy’s eyes dart between them as she taps her fingers against the tablet. Something’s up and she gets the feeling she won’t be allowed to say no. Instead she sighs. “It’s going to take me some time to put together a file. I’m afraid things got a bit jumbled in the switchover. I’ll have it delivered to your office in an hour or so? At the very least, I should have the basics collected at that point.” 

Pierce smiles. “Of course. I look forward to hearing from you.” He stands up and holds out his hand. “Pleasure, Director Lewis.” 

She smiles at him and moves back behind her desk. She discreetly taps the JARVIS icon on her tablet that Tony suggested her have installed. “Rumlow, is there a reason you’re still here?” 

“Protective detail, Director,” Rumlow offers with a smile that makes her skin crawl. “In case this was a measure to take out our leadership.” 

Darcy lowers herself into her seat. “Well, they would have had an easier time when I was sleeping alone in my apartment.” She taps away at her screen, moving files around. With a couple moves, she starts the transfer of all Avengers Initiative files to a secure, dedicated drive. The files move at the accelerated pace she’s gotten used to with the SHIELD systems. As soon as the transfer completes, Darcy moves to copying whatever other files she can and her phone starts to ring. 

Rumlow moves forward and grabs it before she can. He holds it up so she can see “Tony Snark” on the caller ID. He pulls it out of reach and puts the phone on speaker before dropping it on the table. 

“Lewis, Lewis, Lewis, are you having fun without me? I’m offended.” 

“Tony,” Darcy greets with a grimace. “Can you make this snappy? I’m having a bit of a crappy day.” 

“Who pooped in your latte?” 

“Well, Tony, when the Director of your organization vanishes in a gunfight, things tend to get a little tense.” Darcy rolls her eyes at Rumlow as she leans back into her chair, trying to convince herself to relax. “Were you calling about anything specific or is this because you finally saw my emails about proper paperwork procedure?” 

“I thought you were a millennial, Lewis. Who uses actual paper anymore? This is an abomination. I refuse. I won’t do it.” Tony rants. Darcy can practically hear him working on whatever project has his attention right now, which is most likely the files she’s transferring. “Technology is the future, Director Dear.” 

“Paper can’t be hacked, Tony,” Darcy says in response. 

“Neither can my secure servers. SHIELD comes in a pretty close second, I suppose. Basically: I don’t like paperwork. I will do everything over phone calls and yada yada yada. JARVIS is recording this conversation, and he’ll transcribe it. Got that, JARVIS?” 

“Of course, sir. As I do for Miss Potts. I shall even take the liberty of formatting it to SHIELD’s forms. Will that do, Director Lewis?” JARVIS sounds straight from her phone. 

Darcy sighs and pinches the top of her nose. “Fine. Just encrypt them, alright?” 

“Don’t I always? Listen, are we adding any more to the roster?” 

“Not currently. Got a new lead for me to check out?” Darcy doesn’t need something else on her plate on top of whatever is currently happening. 

“I’m talking about the mouth-breather in the room with you,” Tony says. “Should I be offended you put me on speaker phone?” 

Darcy wrestles with her desire to smirk or drop her head into her hands. She had wanted Tony to know they weren’t alone, not call out whoever was listening. She settles for a sigh. “You remember Agent Rumlow.” 

“Frowny Face McGee? Took control of the evil scepter? You have regular contact with him?” 

Tony knows Clint and Nat are not fans of the agent. He may like to pretend he ignores everything, but he does absorb most of it. Clint and Natasha’s word is good enough for him. Rumlow does not look pleased with the assessment so Darcy jumps in with her standard no-nonsense voice. “Agent Rumlow is a member of the strike team that serves as the Avengers’ back up in time of crisis,” she says curtly. “He’s in my office because - as I may have mentioned - we’re currently in a state of high alert and I’m an asset that needs protecting.” 

“Wow, if only there was office space for you...say a couple floors down from the world’s sexiest billionaire philanthropist superhero.” 

“Pepper really is a great selling point,” Darcy shoots back with a grin at the phone. “Unfortunately you’re there too.” He squacks indignantly at the phone. Darcy mentally gives herself a point for that round. 

“I am a delight, Lewis!” 

Darcy would much rather be working with him than Pierce right now, but she’s also half occupied with what happened to Nick Fury. The pirate may have trust issues a mile long, but he’s her kind of pirate. Say what you will about Fury, but he cares about the human race. “A regular ray of sunshine.” 

“Where is the boss man? Lieutenant Grrrr? Shiver me timbers,” Tony announces in his typical cavalier way. 

“If that’s all Tony,” she cuts him off. “We do have a chain of command and I do have work to do. SHIELD will contact you if they want to contract your specific skill set. This is not an Avengers threat.” 

“Have it your way, Double Dee. See you later, babysitter.” Tony’s call ends and Rumlow watches Darcy carefully. 

“What was that about?” 

Darcy shrugs. “Stark being Stark?” She leans back in her chair and continues to tap out Morse Code into her tablet to communicate with JARVIS. “If I’m lucky he only calls once a week to complain about something. Think he might be lonely.” 

Rumlow watches her with narrowed eyes. He moves closer to the desk, runs his hands along the edges of stacked paperwork before he picks up her phone and slips it into his pocket. “We can’t have our director of the Avengers walking around with an unsecured phone. I’ll have Requisitions order you a new one, ready for this afternoon.” 

Darcy smiles tightly. “New security precautions?” 

Rumlow smirks. “Can’t be too careful, right, Ma’am?” 

Unlike before, when it seemed to be a symbol of respect for her person, now it seems derogatory, a mockery of respect. She scowls at him as he leans back into the couch with careless arrogance. She goes back to moving files around to create one for Pierce with just enough information. She’s putting the final touches on her decoy file when Rumlow’s phone bursts into noise and he jumps to his feet. Her phone blares from inside his pocket with Steve’s signature song. 

Rumlow takes it out of his pocket and looks at her. He tosses it to her and she fumbles for the catch as Rumlow delivers a chilling message: “Your boy found Fury. We need to get to the hospital.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously I'm starting to think about ships as we're heading into Winter Soldier territory, and I've shifted some things in regards to Clint, Natasha and Laura. We're starting to make some changes. Let me know what you think!


	6. Winter is Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Following the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier. Any dialogue you recognize from the movie is not mine.
> 
> see also: updated tags

**Winter is Coming**

The hospital is crawling with SHIELD agents when they arrive, like a bunch of worker ants scurrying from here to there to secure the hospital. She sees ambulances rerouted and security stations being crafted by the lower level security grunts, who quickly clear out of the way as she walks up with Rumlow and Rollins. It has the efficient air of a military organization and Darcy can only suppose that’s because it is a military hospital. 

Her hand itches for her phone, for some way to contact Steve before she bursts into an unknown scene with Strike Team Assholes. Maybe it’s the conversation last night, her talk with Natasha, Pierce’s overall creep level, or just plain paranoia but Darcy’s eyes see shadows lurking everywhere. Meanwhile Rumlow and Rollins look at ease for all that she knows they’re packing weapons galore and could definitely gut her without a second thought. 

First things first: get herself out of their protection and into Nat’s or Steve’s. Tony would even be acceptable but since she had to leave her tablet in the office, that’s not very likely. She worries her necklace around her neck as they squeeze into the elevator, feeling small next to the hulking bodies on either side of her. 

“Have we heard anything new?” she asks, unable to bear the silence a moment longer. 

Rumlow narrows his eyes at her and shrugs. “It’s not looking good. The assassin found Director Fury at Captain Roger’s apartment. We’re launching a full investigation.” 

She nods and leads the way out of the elevator as the doors slide open on the appropriate floor. First around the corner, she falters when she sees Maria and Natasha - both pale and tears streaming down their faces. The shock alone would cause her to stand still. She’s never seen Natasha this vulnerable, which can only mean...Darcy turns to the window into the operating room and is met with doctors shutting off machines and a white sheet, stained red and draped over a body. 

Darcy squeezes Nat’s hand as her eyes land on Steve at the end of the hallway. His head rests on his crossed arms, braced against the wall. She slips away from Nat who only acknowledges her with a look before turning to deal with Rumlow. She runs her hand up Steve’s arm, for once not distracted by the muscles. He immediately releases his pose and pulls her into a hug, arms wrapped securely around her body and head finding her shoulder, even though the posture must have been uncomfortable for him. 

“SHIELD is compromised,” Steve whispers. 

Darcy covers her stiffening by wrapping him further into a hug and turning them away from Rumlow and company. 

“Meet me where we last talked.” He whispers.

She squeezes him tighter, carding her fingers into his hair as she presses him into her shoulder, as if that will make the duration of their hug less concerning. Let Rumlow draw what ever conclusions he wants. “Don’t trust Pierce. Rumlow has my phone.” 

Steve’s hand wanders and in any other situation, her heart would flutter and she would make jokes about soldiers taking liberties. She feels a slight tug as something drops into her pocket. Darcy closes her eyes to take a bracing breath, drawing strength from their embrace. There’s something magical about Steve’s hugs, the strength of his arms holding her together. 

“Captain Rogers. We need you back at base to debrief,” Rumlow says curtly. 

Darcy pulls back. Steve’s eyes find hers and holds them before his eyes dart to Natasha. “You’ll stay with Nat?” 

“Actually, Director Lewis needs to come with us-” 

“I have to check in with Clint,” she says suddenly, turning to Brock. “He’s on Avenger’s business. Since you have my phone, I’ll use Nat’s. I assume the Black Widow is capable of serving as protection detail. She’ll bring me back to finish that file for Pierce. Although this appears to be a terrestrial weapon, not an alien one, right Captain?” 

Steve nods shortly. Darcy sees the sharpness of his gaze as he takes in the situation, the subtle way he angles himself between her and Rumlow. There’s conviction in his stance, a threat. If Rumlow makes a single misstep, Steve is prepared to fight. 

Rumlow glances around, unhappy with the statement, clearly at odds with his priorities. 

Natasha edges herself between Darcy and Rumlow as well, holding out her phone. “Here. I’ll make sure she gets back to base.” 

Whatever is happening here, Rumlow does not want a public fight with Black Widow and Captain America. He doesn’t look pleased with what’s happening, but he’s as good as cornered. Taking his lack of response as approval, Darcy moves down the hall and clicks on the most recent, unsaved contact. 

As it rings, she watches Steve disappear down the hall with Rollins and Rumlow, making meaningful eye contact with Natasha. Apparently, whatever differences they had yesterday, he’s trusting her now. Darcy slips her free hand into her pocket and wraps it around the device Steve passed off to her. She stills as she feels the head of the USB drive. 

“Tash, you will not believe the headache I have.” 

“Not your girlfriend, birdbrain.” Darcy leans back against the wall, watching as Natasha stalks towards her and snatches the phone back. 

“Foxtrot is down. Keep your eyes open. Stay with Thor. I’ll call if we need back up.” Nat ends the call without waiting for a response by snapping the flip phone in half and then turning to Darcy with a scowl. “Now talk.” 

* * *

Darcy’s fingers tap a pattern across the lid of her coffee cup, which has long moved from steaming to the cold side of lukewarm. It’s watered down and leftover from the hospital vending machine. If she wasn’t running on adrenaline, then she might have been desperate enough to drink it. 

It takes active concentration for her to not let her anxiety show in any other way: from lip chewing to foot tapping to pacing. Beside her, Natasha looks cool as a cucumber as they watch the crowding kids on their eighth grade field trips. Darcy blinks as a man in a suit with dark sunglasses starts wandering around the National Mall. He could pass for a secret service agent or a bodyguard and he’s definitely looking for someone. 

“Nat. 11 o’clock. Spook in the suit.” Darcy says as she takes a sip of the revolting coffee and attempts not to spit it back out immediately. 

Natasha doesn’t turn her head. She does reach out to tap Darcy’s knee. “That’s an old friend. I’ll be right back.” 

Darcy nods. Sure, she’ll just sit here, in broad daylight, after a Director of SHIELD was assassinated, and serve as a sitting duck for someone who may or may not want to kill her. Because people who went after Fury in the middle of a busy street would be deterred by children on field trips. 

Or maybe she’s just presumptuous to think that she might be a target of any value. 

Her eyes scan the mall again. Maybe she should have told Natasha about the drive Steve left with her. She doesn’t feel held hostage with Natasha the way she did with Rumlow. She does trust Nat, but Steve doesn’t and she’s honoring that by not telling Nat about the drive. Not unless Steve doesn’t return from the Triskelion. 

Which is not a thought she’s entertaining. 

Nat walks back and holds out small rectangle Darcy immediately recognizes from it’s iconic bright red paint job. Her eyes dart back to the man in a suit, who is now leaving the mall without a backward glance. “Who?” 

“Happy Hogan, Stark’s bodyguard. It’s for you.” 

The screen prompts her for a fingerprint. The press of her thumb to the screen triggers a phone call that immediately lights up and she lifts it to her ear. “Stark?” 

“Thank goodness. You safe, Lewis?” 

She takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m with Nat.” 

“You sure that’s good enough? Not getting the warm and fuzzies from SHIELD at the moment.” 

“We’re waiting for Steve.” Darcy looks around. “This device is secure?” 

“Of course. What do you take me for? Want me there?” 

Darcy purses her lips in thought. “Clint is with Thor in Europe. We don’t know how deep this goes.” She’s also worried about Tony’s mental state. “I’ll call you if we need help. You, Big Green, Birdbrain, and Thor.” 

Natasha gives her a look and then her eyes lock on something behind her. 

“Steve’s here. Gotta go.” She hangs up the phone before Stark can start in on how underappreciated he is, and how much he like to blow things up. She taps the phone against her palm and glances at Nat. “I’m doing the right thing, right? We shouldn’t call the Avengers. This isn’t a doomsday scenario. It’s not intergalactic or anything like that. We should keep it in house, right? Right? Please tell me I’m right. Oh God, I’m not prepared to make these decisions. Why am I in a position of power? I should be an intern somewhere or something. 

“Nat, why am I here? Why would Fury hire me? There has got to be someone else who has the answers to these questions because I am so unqualified it is not even funny.” Darcy’s chest tightens and all the anxiety brewing under her skin spills out. “Am I even in charge of the Avengers anymore? Is it really up to me to decide if the world is so in danger it needs superheroes to defend it? What gives me the right?” 

“Darcy, breathe. Deep breath. One after the other.” Steve appears in front of her, hands rubbing up and down her arms as he crouches down to her level. “That’s it. Breathe with me. There’s my girl.” 

She breathes with Steve for a few moments, grounded by the crystal blue of his eyes. 

“Better?” He asks. 

“Not really,” she says honestly. “How am I in charge?” 

“Darcy, you went toe to toe with Nick Fury. You took down the God of Thunder. You can sass Iron Man. You talk to the Hulk like a person and matchmake with the Black Widow.” 

“What do you know?” Her voice is shaky with uncertainty. 

He cups her cheek. “You’re my best girl.” 

Her breath catches in her chest at the sincerity in his eyes. She really wants to kiss him. Probably not appropriate. “Since when are you smooth, Captain Rogers?” 

He grins. “Just for you, doll.” 

“As much as I love this whole flirting thing, I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room.” Natasha turns to look at Steve. “What was Fury doing in your apartment?” 

He glances at Darcy just for a moment, for confirmation that she trusts Natasha. She nods her affirmation. She’s already trusted Natasha with her life. It’s not like she can change her mind now. 

“SHIELD is compromised,” Steve says tersely. “He didn’t know who to trust.” 

“So he went to you.” 

“Of course,” Darcy cuts in before they can escalate, “truth, justice, and the American way, right? The question is: where is the leak? Rumlow and Pierce for sure, right?” 

“It goes back to the Lemurian Star. That ship was dirty and Fury knew it.” Steve narrows his eyes. “That’s why he gave you a side mission.” 

“And yet he chose to reach out to you.” Her voice is colder than Mother Russia. “Why?”

Steve scowls. “I don’t know. We need to find that shooter. It can’t be too hard. He had a metal arm. Wore a mask. Dark hair.” 

Natasha jerks her head to indicate that they need to start walking. “He’s known as the Winter Soldier. The arm confirms it. Maria gave me the ballistics earlier. He’s responsible for the most impossible deaths over the last 50 years.” 

“So he’s a ghost story.” 

“He’s Russian.” Natasha turns to meet Steve’s eyes. “He was after one of my clients. Shot out the tires of the car we were driving. When I tried to get him out of there and the soldier shot him through me.” She lifts up her shirt to display a scar over her hip bone. “Bye bye bikinis.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure you look terrible in them now,” Steve mutters with a scowl. 

“Well, unless you have a lead, we need to go back for that drive I gave-” 

“This drive?” Darcy asks, pulling her pocket open enough that Natasha can see the USB in her pocket. 

Steve moves closer to limit the view and drapes his arm over Darcy’s shoulder. “We just needs a computer.” 

Natasha looks between them, narrowing her eyes. “You had that the whole time?” 

Darcy shrugs. 

“Good,” Natasha says with a scowl and a nod of approval. “There were no tells. Come on. As soon as we plug that drive in, they’ll try to track us. I know a place.” 

* * *

“Either stop breathing down my neck, or we’re going to need to go to Stark,” Darcy says through gritted teeth. 

Natasha huffs and turns away from the computer and moves to intercept the salesperson before he manages to overwhelm Steve with his overly helpful and borderline flirtatious talk. If Steve even realizes the comparison of glasses is flirting. She knows he’s not as oblivious to things as he pretends to be. She bites back a smile when he’s forced to go along with Natasha as she pokes fun at his dislike of technology. 

She taps at the computer. “Come on, come on, come on, baby. Work for mama. Yes!” Steve looks back at her as she pulls the drive from the computer. “I’ve got it. Let’s go.” 

“Thanks, Carl,” Natasha says. 

“It’s Kyle,” the puppy dog of a salesman calls. 

Darcy passes Steve the drive so he can slip it into his pocket where it will be reasonably more protected. 

“Put your arm around her,” Natasha instructs as she lifts a purple sweatshirt from a passing woman’s bag and pulls it over her shoulders. “Pretend he said something funny.” 

Darcy’s giggle is too high pitched to be natural for her and Steve wouldn’t be hunched over with a baseball cap over his eyes, but that’s the point as they slip past a couple goons Darcy only barely recognizes from the base. She is so not cut out for this spy stuff. 

“Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable,” Natasha continues on the escalator. 

That fun fact shocks Darcy and she turns to ask Natasha why that’s even relevant when Steve tilts her head up and lays one on her. It’s chaste, a press of lips against lips, or it would be if Darcy’s mouth wasn’t already open to ask Nat a question. Steve’s arm wraps around her waist to pull her closer to him. Their height difference is minimized since Darcy stands on the step above him as they deepen the kiss. Darcy only just stops herself from knocking the hat off Steve’s head as she starts to run her fingers through his hair. 

Nat coughs behind them and Steve pulls away. His hand slips into hers. He tucks her into his side and drapes his arm over her shoulder. Darcy slides her hand into his back pocket, slow enough that he could twist away if he wanted. 

They make it out of the mall without incident, although Natasha disappears at some point. Darcy let’s Steve guide her as she looks around for any SHIELD tails. They haven’t cut off the exits or closed down the mall. There are no cops involved. 

She frowns when Steve stops next to an older pick-up truck. “Do you have any hairpins?” 

Darcy runs her hand over her hair and starts to take down her updo, watching in fascination as he opens the door with deft movements. “Where did you learn to do that?” 

“Nazi Germany,” He responds with a grin. 

“Not the kind of thing I’d expect from Captain America,” Darcy teases as she rounds the car. “Should we talk about…” Darcy gestures back at the mall in a helpless gesture, unable to find the words to convey what really is a simple concept. She used to be better at this, at relationships. She once told a girl she crushed on her in high school and they spent the next half hour making out in a closet. Turns out the girl was also metaphorically in the closet so that never went anywhere. That was a pity. But also not the point. 

Steve turns a faint shade of red and kicks at the ground. "We probably should, shouldn't we?" He looks up at her from under the rim of his hat and the breath catches in Darcy's throat. 

Does he realize the effect he has on her? Those eyes should be weaponized.

A car door slams, breaking the moment of tension. Darcy reaches into her pocket for the USB drive, squeezing it in her grip. "First, we should probably get out of here." 

He sighs. "Right. Get in." 

Darcy moves the passenger side when a silver four door sedan rolls to a stop behind the truck. For one heart pounding second she fears the worst until the window lowers to reveal a familiar red head. "Well, well, well, looks like the two of you aren't worthless without me after all." 

Steve rolls his eyes. "We can't all be spies, but I do know a thing or two." 

"Me on the other hand? Completely useless," Darcy jokes as she walks around the car and drops into the passenger seat. Steve follows with a put upon sigh. 

Natasha grins. "Jersey, here we come." 

* * *

Darcy types out a message to Stark as they drive. Jarvis yo remote wipe her tablet and Stark to start the transfer of SHIELD files to private Avengers Initiative servers. The responses are only in Jarvis's signature font, without any of Tony's signature snark. 

"So, Steve," Natasha drawls, the snarky tone the only herald of: "be honest: was that your first kiss since 1945?" 

"Was it that bad?" Steve asks conversationally. 

"Absolutely not," Darcy answers without thinking. She looks up, startled to Natasha's smug smirk and Steve winks at her. 

"I have to say, I'm happy to stop dancing around the point. I was running out of people to set you up with. I was going to start switching to the men. Couldn't figure out if you swung that way or not." Natasha looks into the rearview mirror assessingly. 

Darcy huffed. "Please. Two men living together in the gayest part of Brooklyn. I've seen pictures of Bucky Barnes. You can't tell me you didn't tap that.” Not to mention Steve called her in a panic when he discovered the NY Pride Parade because SHIELD had not prepared him for that. All the noise and the crush of people that he hadn’t expected as he wandered the city, the explosion of color. The artist in him had been captivated. 

It was shortly after that Steve sent her his first snapchat, posing with two half-naked men and rainbow painted on both his cheeks. 

“Sorry, doll, but I don’t kiss and tell,” Steve says with great grandeur and reserve. 

“Bull shit,” Darcy declares. “That’s practically un-American. We live on gossip and heresay. Can you honestly tell me that none of those historians asked you about it? The great American love story?” 

Natasha raises an eyebrow and glances at Darcy. 

Steve chuckles. “Surprisingly, most people have more tact than that.” 

Darcy hums noncommittally. “You know, no offense, Steve, but Bucky was always my favorite Howling Commando. I like them tall, dark and handsome. That loyalty: sticking with the little guy and pulling him out of fights.” 

“He’s my favorite, too,” Steve admits, voice weighed down in sorrow. 

“Technically, Captain America wasn’t a Howling Commando,” Natasha chimes in. “Neither was Peggy Carter. Two sassy brunettes. How did you ever choose between the two of them?” 

Steve snorts. “Really? You too, Nat?” 

“Well, it does seem like you have a type.” She winks at Darcy, who flushes in response to the insinuation. “Maybe I should have tried to set you up with Tony.” 

“You mean you didn’t feel the sexual tension just radiating between them?” Darcy had seen the lab footage from the helicarrier. “You, Tony and Banner. Yum. Pretty sure pictures of that exist on the internet.” Salacious pictures that are not fit for the virtuous eyes of Captain America. 

“If SHIELD databases are so easily hacked, they should work on that security,” Steve mumbles from the back seat and Natasha snorts. 

“Oh, Steve, so innocent to the ways of the future. I almost pity you.” Natasha shoots Darcy her cheshire grin. 

Steve scowls and Darcy takes pity on him. 

“They’re not actual pictures. The Avengers kind of have a fan following and artists will draw their own...interpretations of you guys. Same with the Howling Commandos, although a lot of that is based off a questionable tv show in the mid nineties.” Darcy has absolutely not looked into that fandom. She definitely never participated during a cringe-inducing middle school phase where she imagined herself a writer. That was absolutely not something she engaged in. 

“Really?” Steve, bless him, actually sounds intrigued. 

“Steve, no.” Darcy turns so she can look him in the eyes for this part. “Whatever you do, promise me you will not go looking for this. You will get to seedy parts of the internet which you are not prepared for.” 

He looks unimpressed. “I’m aware that you all think I’m a blushing virgin, but-” 

“Nope,” Darcy cuts off. “We’re talking risque pictures and explicit porn, all involving you and your various teammates. You want porn? I can direct you to a couple other sources, all much more enjoyable. Or better yet: take Natasha’s advice and find someone. Hands on is always better than your imagination.” 

“You offering, doll?” Steve is slightly red but he still grins at her. If it were anyone else, Darcy would expect a lewd wink. 

She smiles back. “Take a girl to dinner first, soldier.” 

“It’s a date.” 

Natasha shakes her head. “And here I thought he was terrible with women.” 

“He really isn’t.” 

* * *

The car jerks to a stop and Darcy jolts from her sleep with an undignified yelp. The army base is abandoned, overgrown plants taking over most of the buildings. It’s definitely been used more recently than Project Rebirth. If half the buildings were here when Steve was, Darcy would be surprised. 

“What are we looking for?” She asks as she stumbles from the car as her legs struggle to hold her weight after being curled in a cramped position for a couple hours. She stretches her arms up over her head. She relaxes back as Steve’s large hand rubs at the small of her back and she smiles sleepily up at him. 

“No idea. It doesn’t look like this place has been used in years.” Natasha is already halfway to the nearest building, head on swivel. 

Darcy would love to help, but this digging up secrets on former military bases is not her strong suit. But she’s good at I Spy, so that’s something. Light is fading fast though and the base is not small. 

“That building.” Steve points at a low-lying building. “Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building’s in the wrong place.” 

He strides forward with confident steps. Darcy looks to Natasha, who simply shrugs and follows the Captain. The wind and twilight really does not favors to the creepiness of the empty base, which was clearly meant to house people and was once vibrant with activity. The uneasy feeling does not decrease as they find SHIELD’s former base of operations. 

Darcy leaves Steve and Natasha to their own devices as she looks over the office. Her perusal leads her to a series of portraits along the wall, pictures that have appeared more than once in front of her as she looked into the Avengers files. She stops before the portrait of the ethereal and elegant Peggy Carter. First Director of SHIELD, Badass, and all around idol. 

What she wouldn’t give to see that woman in her prime. To see her defying expectations and outclassing her male compatriarts left, right and center. No wonder Steve had loved her. Even frail and a bit senile she was a force to be reckoned with. “She’s beautiful,” Darcy whispers to the shadow that joins her to her left. 

Natasha hums. “Who is she?” 

Darcy startles and turns to face Natasha. “Please tell me you’re joking. There is no way you’re serious right now. You can  _ not _ be a part of SHIELD and not know who Peggy Carter is!”

The smirk she gets from Natasha tells her exactly how that was just intended to needle her. 

“You’re hilarious.” 

Steve joins them and looks at the row of pictures. As anticipated, his eyes are drawn to Peggy Carter. Darcy waits for a spike of anxiety, of jealousy at Steve and Peggy’s legendary love. Instead, her heart soars as Steve slips his hand into hers and squeezes it. Natasha wanders away to give them some illusion of privacy.

“She is beautiful,” he agrees. “They must have started with this base right after the war. The Triskelion has more recent photos.” 

“How are you doing? I know this is...a lot.” To put it mildly. He’s had to deal with missing out on 70 years with everyone he ever knew. He woke up to most of his friends dead or senile and she knows he had trouble processing it, but he’s been in a better place. 

He takes a deep breath and weighs the question, which is something she’s thankful for. Steve might not lie, but he will avoid talking. “I still miss them so much it hurts, but its nice to stand back and see all that they’ve done. What they accomplished.” 

“For you,” She adds, bumping against him. 

He frowns. “What-” 

“Oh, please. It’s called SHIELD. Who would have such a complicated name unless they wanted the acronym to spell something. And who do you know who carries around a shield. Hmmm, who could it be…,” She looks pointedly at the shield strapped to his arm. 

Steve chuckles. “Okay, I get your point.” He wraps his arm over her shoulders and Darcy snuggles into him, still somewhat sleepy from her nap. 

“Hey, guys, check this out,” Natasha calls from down a dusty row of empty bookshelves. 

Darcy frowns when they get closer, not sure what she’s supposed to be seeing until Natasha points at the cobwebs floating on some non-existent breeze. Steve steps forward and wedges his fingers in the crack, testing the false shelf before throwing some muscle into it and actually opening the door. 

“The question is: why do you need a hidden base inside a hidden base?” 

The double doors at the end of the hall appear to be an elevator that cannot lead to anything good. That bad feeling she’s had all day is only growing with every step forward, her heart racing in terror. She’s so nervous that when the Stark phone goes off in her pocket she jumps about a foot in the air and screams. 

Steve and Nat both jerk around to stare at her with wide eyes. “What was that?” 

Darcy pulls her phone out and blinks at the caller ID. “Do you guys mind if I take this? Think you can handle this without me?” 

Natasha pulls out the car keys and tosses them to Darcy. “Keep watch. We’ll be out soon.” 

She nods and lifts the phone to her ear. “Tony?” 

“Are you inside SHIELD?” 

Darcy looks around the bunker for the last time before returning to the cold and dark outside. “Not in the traditional sense. Technically not even in DC anymore. Why?” 

“Someone tried to access your tablet three times, unsuccessfully. They’re now trying to hack in. Any idea why?” 

“Can you wipe it remotely? Jarvis is still on there, right?” She asks as she fumbles for the keys. The hike back to the car is much easier than she remembers the walk in being. 

“Sure. Got that, J?” 

“Right away, sir.” 

“Make it look like a protocol was activated. The longer it takes them to tie it to you, the better.” Darcy pinches her nose. “Do you have access to the camera? Can you see who attempted to break in?” 

“Unfortunately, Director Lewis, it appears the intruder covered the camera. I cannot access any images,” Jarvis says in his prim voice. 

“Doesn’t matter. I have a pretty good idea. Have there been any attempts to access the tower?” 

“What are you getting messed up in, Lewis? Is this something Fury got you into? Because this is seriously bad news.” 

“Tony, Fury was killed by an assassin codenamed Winter Soldier. Apparently he’s some ghost. I didn’t get much more from Nat but I can safely say that anyone who freak the Black Widow out cannot be good news.” Darcy slides into the driver’s seat of the car. 

“Are you finally calling in the big guns? Captain Spangles can’t perform? You need real fire power?” Tony sounds like he’s winding himself up. “I’ve been working on a couple more suits-” 

“No Avengers. Not until we know what we’re dealing with. This is not a Doomsday scenario,” Darcy insists. 

“You’re still sticking with Eyepatch’s rules? Not to speak ill of the dead, but is now really the time to be listening to the rules created by a man who might have been the head of corrupt organization?” 

Darcy pinches the bridge of her nose. “Yes, Tony. Because the Avengers aren’t responsible to SHIELD. They’re responsible for the world. We can’t start with the precedent of interceding when we  _ think _ something is corrupt. We have to at least try to fix it internally. Bringing in the heavy hitters to handle an assassin and a possible small problem is overkill.” 

“At least tell me you’re coming to the tower.” 

It’s a tempting proposition. At least she can be reasonably sure that it’s secure. It would give them time to regroup without pressure. “I’m not sure that’s wise, but I’ll run it by Nat and Steve when they get back.” 

“Back? Where are they now? They left you alone? That seems like a bad idea. Didn’t you literally have security yesterday that wouldn’t leave you alone?” 

“And now I’m on an abandoned army base in the middle of Jersey. Camp something or other where they made Captain America. Saw a pi-” Her words trail off as something moves across the night sky, something that looks somewhat like a shooting star, and then it’s coming closer. “Stark, I gotta go. There’s something-Oh shit! Call you back!” 

The object is definitely not a shooting star. Or an asteroid like she thought it might be. Apparently hanging out with Jane made her associate everything with outer space. It’s coming closer. She jams the key into the ignition and barely gets the car into reverse when the missile hits the bunker. 

“No. No, no, no no no no no,” Darcy repeats in a mantra as she throws the car back into park and climbs out. Instead of walking back, Darcy climbs into the car and drives it into the compound, ignoring the designated roads to get as close the bunker as she can. She knows it might be unlikely, but if that elevator took them underground, Nat and Steve could have survived that. Right? 

She refuses to entertain thoughts of their death. They haven’t survived this long to die now. The pit continues to smoke. She can’t recognize anything of the structure that was before. The explosion will attract attention and whoever’s behind it...well, they’re going to be on their way to this location. Best case scenario: they’re in DC and it will take them an hour via quinjet. They’ll definitely want to check the rubble. 

Darcy frowns at her phone and debates calling Tony back. Or maybe Thor. She could use some heavy lifters. There’s also the small question of why is she stubbornly sticking to these rules. The missile proves that whatever is wrong is bigger. 

She gives Steve and Natasha thirty minutes. Tony can be here faster than a quinjet. They still didn’t know what they were fighting. Only that they’re part of SHIELD. 

Maybe she’s making the wrong decision. 

Rubble shifts and Darcy pushes herself off the car. Steve emerges first, soot covered but otherwise unharmed. She sees a flash of red hair but she’s already moving towards them, tripping over the rocks and dirt. Darcy throws herself at Steve and he catches her in a hug. He smells like smoke and dirt. Despite that he’s warm and solid. Relief slams into her and she barely resists the urge to cry into his shoulder. 

She takes a moment to revel in his return before she pulls back. 

“We need to move. We’ll talk about what you found on the road. I don’t know who-” 

“We do,” Steve says. His hand lands on Darcy’s back as he guides her to the car, Natasha holding his shield. He opens the back door for her. “HYDRA.” 

Now that is a harrowing realization, especially for Steve. Darcy reaches out and grabs his forearm. “What?” 

“I’ll explain it in the car.” Steve gently pushes her to the door and Darcy reluctantly sits.

Natasha and Steve take their seats and Steve starts to drive the car away. 

“Explain.” 

Natasha glances at Steve, who sighs. 

“It was Zola. In the basement. Backed on computers. He was-” 

“Nazi scientist working on the equivalent of the super soldier program. He was the one you were sent to apprehend when-” Darcy’s voice chokes off. Shit. This has to be a whole problematic can of worms for Steve. She can only imagine what is going through Steve’s mind. “So he was…” 

“SHIELD pulled him in as part of Operation Paperclip.” She can hear the anger in his voice. “Even after everything, they were still trying to replicate the damned serum.” 

“So he was still HYDRA?” Darcy connects. “He...what? Grew it within SHIELD? How did no one catch it?” 

“We don’t know how deep it goes,” Steve says quietly. “We need to root it out. You’re not safe with us.” 

“Safer with you than on my own,” she responds. “We need to go to New York. Talk to Tony. He can help us plan.” 

Steve’s hands flex on the steering wheel. “You should go to Tony.” 

“We,” Darcy emphasizes because she did catch the pronoun change. “We should all go to New York. You can’t just run back to DC without a plan.” 

“We have a plan.” Natasha twists in the front seat to look at Darcy. “We figured out the connection to the Lemurian Star. We’re going to work that lead. We need you to go to Stark and work any electronic leads. Call Clint and Thor back from Europe.” 

“Splitting up is a terrible idea,” Darcy argues. 

“It’s the best strategy. We don’t have time for a detour and we can’t keep you safe in DC.” 

Darcy scowls. “So your solution is to send me into New York City, alone?” Because that makes sense. 

“I trained you myself, Lewis,” Natasha states. “You can handle a train into the city and the walk to the tower.” 

She’s not sure she agrees with the statement, although she knows they’re not wrong either. They have to move fast and she’s a liability. With a sigh, she acquiesced. “Fine. Drop me at the train station.”

* * *

Let the record clearly state that Darcy Maria Lewis emphatically did NOT agree with the plan to send her to New York while Natasha and Steve ventured back to D.C. Let it also state that she was in fact armed and that she did empty an entire clip into the man with the muder walk and the metal arm. He wasn't supposed to go after her. He was supposed to be tracking Steve and Natasha. That was why they sent on her own. She was meant to meet up with Thor and Clint, to camp out in Avengers Tower on Tony's dime. 

Recalling Natasha's story, Darcy abandons the gun and tries to run for it through the less-than-crowded train. She can't take the Winter Soldier in a fight. If he was going to kill her, he would have taken the shot already. The only thought she has is to get away from civilians. Nat would scold her but Darcy has no delusions about her ability to escape. She makes it to an empty car and grabs the emergency break. She holds the pole as the train slams to a stop and then shatters the emergency glass to grab the axe in the wall.

Her heart pounds, pumping her system with adrenaline. She crouches behind a couple seats. He's not wasting energy running after her. She has nowhere to go. Her hands shift on the axe and she crouched in preparation. She has to make the shot count. 

It's harder to swing the axe than she anticipated and it throws her center of gravity off balance. Darcy follows the arc of the axe, aimed at the soldier's leg. He catches the axe around the handle and wrenches it from her hands. She follows it through with a desperate move towards his face. Ideally, the heel of her hand would break his nose, and Darcy is fiercely proud of her flawless execution. Only she didn't take into account the soldier's face mask. 

"Shit. Fuck. Ow." Her hand aches from the impact. While the move doesn't break his nose, it does dislodge the mask enough that Darcy can see the face under it. He definitely doesn't look old enough for the Winter Soldier's history. "Who the fuck are you?" 

He says something gruff in Russian and grabs her around the waist to throw her over his shoulder. Darcy grabs what she can, scratching when she can't punch. She flings the mask down the train car and manages to kick him in the sensitive bits. He drops her and she races for the door. 

The handle jams under her hand and refuses to budge. “Shit shit shit shit shit.” 

Darcy spins and presses her back against the cool metal of the door and her breath catches in her throat. The face is haunted, the hair lank and greasy. He’s more muscular than the picture in the Smithsonian, just a bit closer to the photo Steve has from before the war. It’s still a face she recognises. 

“Bucky? Bucky Barnes?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Things are starting to really change. Let me know what you think! Or come find me on tumblr.


	7. Tabula Rasa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no idea what this is anymore, but I hope you like this long chapter!

**Tabula Rasa **

He pauses his murder strut and his brows draw together in a frown. He says something in Russian and then stops and tries again in English: “Who the hell is Bucky?” 

Darcy’s heart could beat right out of her chest. It’s painful to breathe around, to even think about. “You are. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.” 

“I don’t know you.”

It’s not a question, which she takes as a good sign. Darcy lets out a shaky breath. “We’ve got a friend in common: Steve Rogers?” 

The furrow in his brow deepens and he turns slightly away. He’s no longer trying to kill her so Darcy takes it as a good sign and keeps talking. That’s what she’s good at, right? Talking incessantly. She can do this like her life relies on it. 

“You might also know him as Captain America,” Darcy says, trying to find the words. “Wears ridiculous red, white, and blue all the time, and a shield that looks ridiculously like a target. But before that he was your best friend. Used to be little and scrappy, got into fights all the time. Which he still does now, so I really don’t understand how you put up with him back when there wasn’t much chance of him winning, but you know Steve. Won’t back down when justice is on the line. Stand up guy. Takes the hits and keeps on coming.” 

His lips move in silent mutters as his hand presses to his temple. Darcy moves ever so slightly away from the door and the motion has his attention trained on her again, gun raised to the center of her mass. Darcy raises her hands up to show she’s not a threat. Just a normal girl. Nothing special here. 

“Whoa there, Buckster. Just moving a little closer so we can talk better. That okay?” She pauses her slow steps to wait for an answer. 

“How do you know me?” 

“Your name is James Buchanan Barnes, Sergeant in the United States Army. Childhood friend of the one and only Captain America. Ladies man, although Steve kind of hinted that you two might have been something special too. So maybe they were just beards. Man would I love to pick your brain about that.” He frowns and Darcy backtracks. “Which is totally not appropriate to this situation. Any of this ringing a bell?” 

His metal hand whirs as it recalibrates in what would otherwise be called a nervous tic. “The man on the roof.” 

Darcy lets out a sigh of relief. “Yes. That was Steve. He is going to be so excited to hear you’re alive.” 

He stares at his metal hand with a frown. “I knew him.” The gun trained on Darcy lowers. “I knew him.” 

“Yeah. You did.” She looks around the train for any other people who might cause trouble. This man is obviously not the same one who fought side by side with Steve. Something has warped him to the point that he can’t remember. “You were best friends. You fought side by side against HYDRA.” His eyes flit back to hers at the name and she knows that hit a sore spot. She didn’t completely believe Steve before but now...seems like anything is possible. “Yeah, HYDRA. Talk about a mess. Nazis. Twisted sons of bitches.” 

His metal arm groans again with clench and unclench of his fist. 

“They held you once before. 1943. Azzano. You were experimented on by Arim Zola.” She tries to pull up her memories of his file, what little she’d seen. “And then they held you for the last seventy years. Tortured you,” a wild guess but he jerks like the shot hits home, “twisted you until you could no longer remember who you were. They’re bad news, Buck.” 

It’s one word too far and he starts shaking his head. “No. Stop lying. I’m not Bucky. I’m the Soldier. The fist of HYRDA.” His gun is loose in his hands as he twists in anguish away from her. “The man on the roof…” 

“Steven Grant Rogers,” she supplies. 

“Punk,” he mutters. “He used to be shorter.” Bucky grimaces and grabs his head. 

“Listen, Bucky, I can get you to Steve. He will help you, but I need you to hand me the gun first.” As if that will make it harder for him to kill her. 

“No. You are my mission.” He says the word but makes no movement towards her. The gun is facing the side of the train, no longer pointed at her. 

“You going to kill me, Bucky?” she asks softly. 

“Not a kill order. Capture.” 

She breathes out. “Okay. Then why don’t you put the gun away, buddy? It’s making me a little nervous.” 

He looks at the weapon and after a moment, slides it back into its holster on his thigh. 

“So where are you taking me?” she asks, lightly. 

Bucky’s head jerks toward her with a frown she’s now starting to think is a permanent fixture. “What?” 

“Where are we going?” she asks again with a light smile. She’s still a little jittery, hyped up on adrenaline. 

“We? What are you talking about, doll? You thought I was going to kill you.” He says, a bit of Brooklyn leaking into his voice. 

“Not like I have anywhere else to go. So, are we heading back to DC?” She walks closer to Bucky.

“You thought I was going to kill you,” he repeats, at a loss. 

Darcy doesn’t really get it either. She’s just winging it now. It just feels right. “Well, I don’t  _ want  _ you to take me back to whoever you work for. HYDRA is bad news, but Steve and Nat are also in DC. And this train isn’t going anywhere.” She looks down the train. “Actually, I would have expected to see a conductor or something by now.” 

“STRIKE Team has taken over the scene,” Bucky says. “They’re clearing the train now.” 

“Rumlow?” She looks down the train and sees moving black suits. 

“You know them.” His eyes narrow in suspicion. 

She waves him away. “He’s an asshole. So you’re taking me back to SHIELD under the guise that what? Steve kidnapped me? Captain America’s gone rogue? Is that the story they’re going with?” She taps her fingers against the top of the seat as she tries to think it through. “Steve and Nat: they’re not going to be able to convince them they’re not evil, so they’re going to alienate them. But they want me alive.” 

Darcy stops and spins to face Bucky. “Why do they want me alive?” She doesn’t wait for a response. “Is it for access to the Avengers server? To use as leverage? They have to know it won’t work. Steve is the combat leader. Sure, he and Tony don’t always get along, but they can put that aside for a fight.” 

“You need to leave,” Bucky interrupts. He grabs her arm and pulls her with him to the door she couldn’t open. He wraps his metal hand around the handle and forces it open with a giant wrench of strength. He propels her forward, and Darcy turns to grab him. 

“Come with me.” She clutches his flesh hand. 

“I can’t, doll.” 

“Of course you can. It’s super simple. Just walk.” 

He shakes his head. “They’ll find me.” 

“I know Steve would want to see you.” 

Bucky pauses at Steve’s name and Darcy latches on to his metal arm. 

“Go!” 

“Soldat!” Rumlow’s voice cuts through the train car as Bucky pushes her forcefully away. Through the window, she sees Bucky break the door handle with his metal hand before turning to face the advancing strike team. 

Darcy can see Rumlow’s mouth move as Bucky stiffens. The change in his demeanor is the difference between night and day. Fear hammers in her chest, screaming at her to run. She pulls out her Stark phone as she does. She has to let Steve know what to expect. This surprise would break him as the reveal of Hydra was already prepared to do. 

The countryside around her is unfamiliar. She thought they were closer to the city but apparently even in New Jersey there are long stretches of nothingness. If she’s honest with herself, Darcy will admit that she’s unlikely to outrun anyone, let alone Rumlow and company. 

Her phone only has one number: Stark’s. She dials it as she races to the tree line where she can scramble between trees in the growing morning light. Despite the phone pressed to her ear, Darcy struggles to hear the ringing over the sound of her own panting breaths. 

“About time you called back, Lewis. I was starting to get nervous.” 

“Tony! I need you to get to DC.” She says, not bothering to speak softly as she leaps over logs. “Find Nat and Steve.” 

“Slow down, Lewis. I thought you were with Capsicle and Little Red.” 

“There’s no time. HYDRA found me. They have Bucky, Tony. You have to warn Steve.” She can hear bodies moving through the woods after her, tracking her. Overhead, she hears the hum of a quinjet engine even if they’re cloaking it and all she sees is sky. 

“Hold on, Lew. I’m tracing the call-” 

“No time, Stark.” She puts on a burst of speed and then stops short as a blast hits the trees in front of her. She turns right to another shot and heads left. There’s no other shot. They’re trying to herd her. Darcy looks up and sees just tree leaves. The jet can’t see her right now and the ground crew has slowed down. She stops to catch her breath. “They want me alive, Stark. There’s something bigger going on. Find Steve. Tell him they have Bucky.” 

“As in James Buchanan Barnes? Captain Crunch’s other half? How is that even possible?” 

“I don’t know,” Darcy whispers. She can hear the Strike Team now as they stomp through the woods. She moves behind a couple bushes. “But he’s not a metal arm, Tony, and he was confused. He didn’t know who he was, but he stopped when I said his name.” 

“Hang on, pipsqueak, I’m on my way to your coordinates.” 

Darcy closes her eyes. “They’ve got a quinjet, Tony. Pretty sure they can track my heat signature.” She shouldn’t give up hope. Nat would tell her to keep moving, to never stop. “I can’t out run them. It might be better to have someone on the inside.” 

“You’d be a hostage, Lewis,” Tony shouts over the tinny sound of speakers in the Ironman suit, “unable to get anything out. They’ll consider you hostile to them. It’s not like you can be our inside man. Think this through. You can’t let them take you.” 

Her next training with Natasha is going to be the death of her when Nat hears about this. Darcy takes a deep breath. What else can she do? She can’t run anymore. They’ll find her if she does. She needs to hide. The steps aren’t getting any closer, not that she can hear. She has no doubt they’re still looking. “JARVIS, can you patch this through to Agent Coulson?” 

“Certainly, miss.” 

“Coulson.” 

“Hey, Agent Ipod. We’ve got a code black: HYDRA is in SHIELD. Cap is on the run. They’re going to need help. Cap and Widow are on their way to DC. They’re trying to flush out the rats.” She stops speaking as she hears a branch crack. She slumps further into the shadows, as much as she can without making any more noise. 

“Lewis, how could you know this?” 

“Pierce, Rumlow, Strike team,” she whispers into the phone. “We don’t know how deep it goes.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Agent, she’s being hunted down as we speak. JARVIS is routing this call,” Tony inputs. “I’m two minutes out. If you can trust your team, get them to DC. But only if you trust them. We don’t have the time for questionable loyalties.” The line clicks off. “Lewis, you still with me?” 

Darcy taps a finger against the speaker in lieu of speaking. She learned Morse Code to tease Steve and she really hopes Tony can connect the dots. If not him, then JARVIS. 

“Okay, good. Smart girl,” Tony’s voice drops softer in response to her non-verbal communication. “I can see the jet now. JARVIS, target heat signatures.” 

Darcy covers her mouth as she hears the sounds of a fight. She’s never leaving home without a stun gun or an Icer ever again. The ground shakes and Darcy sees a fighter dive out of the way of an incoming shot. 

“Fuck this noise,” Darcy mutters. “I am done playing the damsel in distress.” She jumps out from the bush to tackle the man. She wraps him in a chokehold and wraps her legs around his torso. Rollins - and that’s who it is, she can tell from the garbled curses - reaches back to try to grab her. “No you don’t, you asshole.” 

Rollins tries to smash her against a tree. The impact forces the breath from Darcy’s lungs but she continues to cling to him. 

“Just go to sleep, Nazi scum. Wow, never thought I would ever have to say that in real life. Do you know how fucked up that is?” As if superheroes weren’t the most unrealistic part of her life. Now Nazi’s are back. It kind of explains her aversion to Strike Team, and yet it doesn’t because she never would have suspected they were members of a defunct WWII cult. 

Rollins staggers and then drops. Not on to his front as he passed out, which Darcy had hope for, but into his back, in another effort to dislodge Darcy. She grunts at the impact, feeling every rock and root sticking up through the dirt and fallen leaves. Only stubborn determination has her holding on to Rollins as his weight falls limp against her. 

Darcy rolls Rollins off her with a groan of effort and pushes herself back onto her feet. It’s been drilled into her in lesson after lesson: on your feet, you’re alive; if you’re down, you’re dead. She turns around to see the red and gold of the Iron Man suit emerge through the trees. 

“I’ve got more heat signatures incoming. I don’t like doing this, but we’re going to need to take off.” Iron Man says in that mechanical voice. 

She looks around and doesn’t see Bucky among the felled Strike Team. “Please tell me you didn’t kill Bucky, because Steve will flip-” 

“Nope. No recently revived WWII vets. But I’m sure that’s in the second wave. Now, come, we fly.” 

Darcy squawks as Tony sweeps her up into his arms and he shoots into the sky. His metal exoskeleton is cold and unyielding as she clings to him. A scream chokes its way from her throat until she’s screaming obscenities at him with the most powerful curses she knows, including but not limited to invoking Thor’s smelly goats and Odin’s fall-powerful foot odor. Wind assaults her face, tearing at her skin. She almost doesn’t realize when they finally come to a stop, which probably has something to do with the fact that they’re still in the air. 

“Unclench, Lewis. We’ve landed,” Tony says, face-plate open. 

She opens her eyes to what looks suspiciously like a quinjet. “What...Stark? Have you been playing with Fury’s toys?” 

Her feet land on the metal floor even as they shake under her. She takes a wobbly step from the metal suit as Tony steps out of it, looking like he just walked out of his lab in a ratty t-shirt and jeans. 

“You know, Lewis, you could just say thank you,” Tony teases. “JARVIS, give me a full body scan. Call Pepper, let her know we’re headed to the land of crusty politicians.” 

“Very well, sir. I am-” 

“Belay that, Jay,” Darcy orders. She waves at the walls as if to wave away an actual being. “I’m fine. Everything aches but I’m good. Do you have a location on Steve and Nat?” 

“With the jet, we can beat Capsicle and Natashalie to DC. JARVIS is searching for them right now, but Red is hard to find.” Tony walks forward to the pilot seat and Darcy frowns. 

There’s not a single person around. “Who’s piloting this ship?” 

“I am, Director Lewis,” JARVIS responds. 

Darcy taps a fingernail against the metal wall. Her nails are chipped and dirty in juxtaposition to the shiny panels and she pulls her hand back quickly, as if she would smudge it with the dirt she can now feel on every pore of her body. “So you control all this, Jay?” 

“Indeed, Director.” 

She hums instead of answering. Tony has become more and more reliant on his machines. It’s like he trusts them more than humans. She might have to sit him down to watch the Terminator movies. She does not need Skynet on her list of enemies, especially since apparently Nazi’s are still around. 

“Now that you’re not in danger, care to elaborate on that Bucky Barnes thought? One supersoldier survives 70 years in the ice, okay. A normal soldier? No. Unless we’re talking a hundred year old mummy.” 

“Zola must have been successful,” Darcy mutters as she moves to the cockpit so she can see where they’re going through the window. She’s not sure she meant to say that out loud, but she elaborates at Tony’s scowl. “In the war, Steve’s first act as Captain America the soldier was the raid of Azzano, a HYRDA work camp, because his best buddy, James Buchanan Barnes, was among the missing of the 107th. Steve pulled Bucky off a lab table. They never tested Barnes, but Armin Zola was working on the same supersoldier project as Erskine. I think he got it.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, but Spangles rescued Bucky Bear. I remember that part of the story.” Tony waves his hand and a display pops up of SHIELD files on Cap. “Cap’s right hand man, best friends since birth, yadda yadda. A-ha!” He pulls up the blue tinged file. “Barnes fell off a train, reported as missing in action. Never found a body.” 

“Three days later, Steve went into the ice,” Darcy whispers. She’d memorized that fact when she learned Steve was alive. “He looks the same age as Steve,” she says. “He’s enhanced, somehow. Got a metal arm, too.” 

“Metal? The whole thing? A prosthetic?” 

Darcy shrugs. “I guess. It’s not like I had time to ask questions. It moved just like a real arm except stronger.” 

“So why’s he working for the Nazis? Didn’t he fight against them?” Tony flicks through other assorted files absently. 

“It was weird. He was almost like a robot, and then I started to jog his memory, and he stopped.” Darcy can recall the moment confusion entered those chilling eyes. It was the first time she saw something in them and not just the cold promise of death. “I think someone messed with his head.” 

“Alright, so DC, find Spangles, destroy Nazis - again, and rescue Soup for Brains,” Tony announces with a clap of his hands. “Sounds fun.” 

Darcy rolls her eyes and settles into the co-pilot seat, wishing she knew how to fly and trying to figure out how - if it was even humanly possible - she could reign Tony in. She has not had enough sleep to deal with this. 

* * *

It turns out Tony Stark can be stealthy when he wants to be, surprise surprise. It really is quite impressive considering they have to park an invisible jet in a metropolitan area and Stark Industries has no major footholds in the city. They end up parking it outside a nursing home. 

“Isn’t this-” 

“Yup. Built the place under a shell company when Aunt Pegs was diagnosed with Alzheimers. She was not happy with me, but it was the best way to keep an eye on her. Didn’t realize SHIELD would be doing the same. There were a lot of things I never realized,” Tony mutters darkly. 

That was not a can of Daddy Issues that Darcy had any intention of opening. “You good, Stark?” 

“Yup, right as rain. Just a reminder why I should never have kids.” 

Oh, look, more good things they’re going to have to unpack. Darcy is not paid enough to be a therapist, nor does she ever want to be. Once this whole event is over, she will happily ship each of her charges off to their own - separate - therapists so they can sort through they’re myriad of issues without involving her. She and her therapist have enough to deal with, thank you very much. 

“So, where to now? We could go to my apartment but I have a feeling that’s being watched.” If only she could figure out where Nat and Steve would go…”Stark, I need Clint’s number.” 

He flicks a contact from a small piece of glass towards Darcy and her phone buzzes in her pocket. “Done.” 

Yeah, she is not a fan of that reliance on technology and the lack of interpersonal communication. The fact that he has complete access to her phone. Darcy quells her unease in favor of dialling the number provided. 

“Tell’s Pizzeria. How can we pepper your roni?” The voice is heavy with sleep and sludge, the kind that naturally follows a night of heavy drinking with Thor.

“Clint, it’s me.” Darcy says as they approach a waiting car. She can already recognize a Stark interface on the car’s dashboard. She slides into the passenger seat. “I need to know what safe houses Nat has in DC, ones SHIELD doesn’t know about.” 

There’s a nonsensical grumble and unidentifiable noises as Clint clearly wakes himself and mutters something to whoever’s in the room with him before Darcy hears the recognizable sound of a door shutting followed by grumblings of coffee and she assumes Clint starts the coffee pot. 

Darcy stares at the window of the passing countryside as Tony drives them. He presses the dashboard controls and her call is channelled through the speakers. She scowls at him. That discussion about privacy might have to happen sooner rather than later. 

“What are you doing, Birdbrain?” Tony asks. He removes his hands from the wheel and starts to fiddle with controls. Darcy watches the wheel turn on its own. Yup, once this is over there will be a Terminator marathon and an intervention. She might have to speak to JARVIS separately. But first: SHIELD/HYDRA. 

“Ugh, you too, Stark? I have not had enough coffee to deal with any nonsense. Call back in thirty.” 

“We might not have thirty. Clint, we need to find Nat and Steve now,” Darcy stresses. “And then I need you and Thor nearby. Head to Avengers Tower. Bring Jane. Only people we trust without question. Got it?” 

“What’s going on, Darce?” Clint is awake and serious now. It’s his dad voice. 

“SHIELD is compromised. Fury is dead. Nat and Steve are in the wind.” She bats Tony’s hands out of the way and points strictly at the steering wheel. He scowls as he follows the tacit command. “Strike Team is HYDRA. Pierce is too. I was on my way to New York to meet up with Tony when they tried to grab me. Now we need to find them. They don’t know the extent of what they’re walking into.” 

She chews on her thumbnail in thought. “We need to find Steve and Nat before they do. We have to warn them.” 

“Nat only has her apartment, but even I don’t know where that is,” Clint says. Darcy can hear him shake his head, or maybe she only imagines that. “Kate’s the one that feeds her cat. But she won’t go there if there’s even a chance it's not safe.” 

“Shit,” Darcy mutters. She looks at Tony. “So what do we do now?” 

“Find somewhere to wait. Legolas and Hammertime, get to the Tower. You and I will work on sifting through the SHIELD server and coming up with a press release for when this all blows over.” 

Darcy groans. “Right. No rest for the wicked.” 

Clint chuckles. “Have fun, boss lady. We’ll reach out when we get to New York. Hawkeye out.” 

* * *

Darcy looks dubiously around the house. It doesn’t have the same ultra-modern look as the house in Malibu or Avengers Tower. In fact, it looks like the redone colonial it is. It’s stuck in the middle of a rich suburb of DC and she can only imagine how much it costs. Really, it’s the lack of computer screens that shocks her, the absence of JARVIS welcoming her into the space. She glances at Tony, who tosses his keys aside and brushes past her into a home office, the walls lined with actual books. 

His hands skip over the hardcover books to land on an engineering volume. He pulls it out and the painting on the opposite wall lowers behind the half shelf below it. It reveals a computer screen that lights up with a message of welcome. Next a holograph screen flickers to life out of the desk. 

“It was my father’s. Pep prefers it to the apartment when she’s in town,” Tony explains as he starts to sift through the SHIELD files. “JARVIS is around, but tech is limited. This is about as off the grid as I get. You know, besides a cave in Afghanistan.” 

“That definitely explains some things.” Darcy swipes through some files on the screen. She frowns. “Well, would you look at that.” She opens the file she had transferred earlier and laughs as a list of suspicious activity unrolls before her eyes. “Looks like Nick left me a gift.” 

“Nick? Try Spyrate. Makes more sense,” Tony mutters. He pulls up a list of Strike missions to compare to the list of activity Fury wanted connected. 

“I’m sure Fury would be flattered to hear that.” 

“Shit!” Darcy shrieks. She twists in the air and yanks out her icer to point at the figure in the doorway. Tony has already stepped in front of her. There’s a gauntlet on his hand that hadn’t been there moments before.

“Who the fuck are you?” Tony demands. 

Darcy peeks around him to see Maria Hill and lowers her weapon. “Don’t be an ass, Stark. You know Maria. The real question is: how did she know we were here?” She walks around Tony and raises an eyebrow at the spy. Then her eyes furrow. That’s certainly not the only question. Another one would be: why was she here? It didn’t make sense. 

Unless she also knows something’s wrong. In which case, would she be acting alone…?

“It’s the former Director’s home. We had surveillance. Speaking of, we should move. Pierce could find out any minute.” Maria jerks her head to the back of the house. 

Darcy moves to follow but Tony grabs her arm. “We don’t know if we can trust her.” 

“If Maria Hill is HYDRA, we’re doomed anyway.” Darcy strides past him. They move through the back yard and out a side entrance Darcy can only think is used by “the help” that no doubt keeps the old house clean. She keeps pace with Maria. “So where is he?” 

Maria glances at her. “Who?” 

Darcy snorts. “Who do you think?” 

For that long moment where Maria doesn’t react, Darcy questions her own deductive reasoning. Sure it’s a leap but really, Fury has this relentless ability to survive anything. He’s like a cockroach that way. 

Then there’s that smirk. “He thought you’d figure it out.” 

“No offense, but if you weren’t still following orders, I would expect you to come in guns blazing.” Darcy’s lips twitch. “That or you would have seized control. Letting Pierce take control…” She tries to think like Fury. “He wanted to see what would happen in a power vacuum. He couldn’t have you messing up the reactions. So what, you’re playing the grieving work widow?” 

“Pierce sees me as just a secretary. Assholes aren’t big believers in smart women.” Maria opens the driver’s door and tosses the keys to Darcy. She hands over a crumpled sheet of paper with scribbled directions. “No technology. That includes you, Stark.” 

Darcy grabs Maria’s arm. “We need to reach Nat and Steve. I know who the Winter Soldier is.” 

“We’re not going to find them until they want to be found.” Maria releases a huff of air as she looks around them. “Nat is the best at what she does. They want you: we need to keep you safe. We’ll get Steve and Nat when they pop up. Whoever is behind this, they are operating under SHIELD’s jurisdiction, which means acting with impunity. They’re finally acting in the open, but there are going to be agents who are just carrying out orders. The trick will be to separate the moles.” 

“It’s HYDRA.” Darcy sees the surprise register in Maria’s eyes. “Steve and Nat figured it out. They’ve got a trump card.” 

“The Winter Soldier,” Maria fills in. “We know.” 

“It’s who the soldier is that makes all the difference,” Darcy insists. “You can’t kill him.” 

Maria scowls. “You’re talking about the man who killed Fury. SHIELD is not going to stop-” 

“He’s not acting of his own freewill. I think he’s been brainwashed.” 

Darcy’s willing to bet her mind jumps to Loki’s sceptre. Maria purses her lips. “You’re talking about over fifty years of assassinations.” 

“I’m talking about the world’s longest POW: 70 years.” 

“Impossible.” 

“Super soldier,” Darcy counters. 

“Bullshit.” 

“Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. Howling Commando.” Darcy leans on the open door, jaw working as she thinks of the pain she saw in the soldier’s eyes. “I saw him, Maria. Talked to him. They’re definitely controlling him, but it’s breaking.” 

Maria stares at her, her mind trying to piece all the various bits together. “HYRDA...so you’re telling me they’ve had…,” she chokes on the name, “Barnes for seventy years?” 

“If he’s anything like Steve with his...enhancements, then his brain keeps breaking whatever they’ve done to him. Steve’s going to want to bring him in.” 

Maria nods thoughtfully. “Think he can do it?” 

Darcy shrugs helplessly. “If anyone can, it’ll be Steve. I wanted to find them before they could be blindsided.” 

“I don’t think we’ve got much of a choice,” Maria mutters as she yanks out a buzzing phone. “You’ve got to go, and it looks like they’re finally poking their heads up. Follow those instructions. I’ll meet you there, hopefully with Rogers and Romanoff in tow.” 

“Aye aye, Ma’am,” Darcy says with a salute as she slides into the car. She glances at the passenger seat where Stark sifts through yet another holographic display. “You’re awfully quiet, Stark.” 

“Oh, are you done with your spy games?” Tony snarks. “Get driving, Miss Daisy. Let’s go meet up with the Undead Pirate King.” 

* * *

Darcy is ready to push Tony out of a moving car by the time they arrive at the destination. He’s critiqued everything from the age of the car, to lack of radio reception, the funny sound the static makes. His voice grates on Darcy’s mind as she follows the instructions to park in a heavily wooded area. She leaves him in the car very purposefully. Not that she can outpace him for long. How does Pepper deal with him? 

Or maybe she’s just cranky because she hasn’t slept in over 24 hours. 

She can feel the headache building behind her temple. Once they find this so-called base, she’s going to find a dark corner somewhere and collapse in a corner. Or shove some food in her face. So many options. 

To call the base a building would be a misnomer. It’s really a decommissioned dam, one overgrown with moss. It’s kind of pretty. She moves aside a curtain of hanging ivy to get to a door, which opens at her command. There’s a bright light down at the end of the hall, blocked by a curtain of plastic. It appears to be a makeshift operating room. Thankfully there aren’t splashes of fresh red blood around. 

“Look who’s back from the dead! It’s a miracle,” Tony announces as he rounds the curtain. “Nice place you’ve got here. Very posh.” 

Fury huffs, which earns him a glare from the doctor checking his vitals. “You just had to bring him along, Lewis?” 

“Saved my life from Rumlow’s scum, so yes,” she says, looking curiously at the monitors. “Met the guy who shot you up.” 

“Rumlow’s dirty?” Fury asks. 

“As a pig, which is fitting. All of Strike is, as far as I can tell. Pierce is HYDRA too.” She wanders around the room. “Quite the pile of shit you’ve got here, sir.” 

“HYDRA?” 

She can tell he’s in pain because she would have expected far more expletives to come flying from his lips at that reveal. Darcy just nods. 

“Those mother fucking Nazi scum? In my goddamn house?” 

“Yes, sir. Let the trash in with the real agents. Real bang up job,” Darcy observes as she sits across from him. 

Fury glares at her. “Your sass isn’t helping, Lewis.” 

“No, I imagine not.” She clasps her hands together in front of her and smiles as politely as possible. “We need to talk about how to weed them out.” 

“Maria is getting Rogers and Romanoff. We’ll talk about it when they get here,” Fury announces. 

“Will we?” Tony asks from where he pokes at the medical equipment. “You caused this mess. Do you really think you can clean it up?” 

Darcy throws Tony a bit of side eye which rolls right off him. “Still not intergalactic or a Doomsday threat, Stark, which means no Avengers unless absolutely necessary.” 

“The Avengers are already involved. I’m here because our Director was actively threatened by his oversight.” Tony scowls. “You allowed these parasites to thrive and we need to burn it down.” 

“And he deserves the chance to rectify that situation himself. Once Cap gets here, we’ll figure out a plan forward. Until then, play nice. I need a nap.” Darcy drops onto the extra gurney. It’s hard under her but it feels like heaven to her sleep deprived body. Her eyes flutter closed and she welcomes oblivion. 

* * *

She groans as she wakes to a hand brushing her cheek. Calloused fingers tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. There’s a delay for Steve’s words to completely penetrate her brain, but her body is relaxed, knowing she’s safe instinctively. She turns into Steve’s palm with a happy murmur. 

“Come on, Doll. Need you to wake up.” 

It’s about that time she realizes that this isn’t a dream. She’s not waking up in bed after a night of great sex with Steve (which by all rights should be the case if Darcy had any luck at all). No, she’s asleep on a gurney in a secret dam hideout. 

“You’re okay?” She asks sleepily. Her eyes catalogue every scratch and hint of a bruise. To show up on his face this much later, she can only imagine how bad it was. Her face melts into sorrow. She can feel the muscles downturn in sympathy. “You faced him. The Winter Soldier?” 

Steve swallows thickly and blinks. His hand continues to stroke her hair and he moves closer to pull her into his arms, ducking his head down to rest forehead against forehead. “The Soldier...it’s Bucky. I don’t know how, but it’s him. It’s him, Darce.” 

Darcy wraps her arms around him and pulls him into a deeper hug. “Oh, honey, I know. God, I’m so sorry.” 

Steve jerks back. “You know?” 

“They found me outside New York - the Soldier and Strike Team.” Her hand rubs against her side which has started to ache slightly. 

“Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” 

She waves off his worry. “No. It was Rollins. Bashed me into a tree.” 

Steve heaves a huge sigh and runs a hand up and down her arm distractedly. 

“How are you doing, Steve? Talk to me.” Then her eyes lock on an unfamiliar man standing awkwardly behind Steve and looking altogether uncomfortable. She follows his gaze to where Natasha is being stitched up by the doctor. Natasha looks up when she feels eyes on her and nods in affirmation that she’s alright. Darcy turns her attention back to the new guy. “Hello, handsome. Don’t recall seeing you before.” 

Darcy jumps from the bed and stretches her hands over her head. She grimaces at the stiffness of her limbs but nothing feels overly painful. She rubs her side and focuses on the newcomer. 

“He’s a friend.” 

“You have friends?” Darcy teases with a dramatic gasp, clutching at her heart. “I am so proud.” 

The man chuckles. “Sam Wilson, ma’am. Former pararescue.” 

Darcy shakes Sam’s hand with a bright smile. “Darcy Lewis. So these two dragged you into their nest of crazy: how’d they manage that?” 

“Well, when Captain America come knocking-” 

“You turn into a national fugitive?” Darcy finishes with a smirk. “Always getting into trouble, these two,” she points to Steve and Nat. “Sure you want to join them?” 

He looks at the two of them. Steve looks at least a little chagrined by her censure. “All due respect, Miss Lewis, but I joined up because Steve Rogers fights for the little guy. If that makes me a fugitive, then at least I know I’m doing something right.” 

Darcy grins. “Oh, I like you. He’s one of mine,” she calls over to Fury and Maria Hill. She sticks out a hand to Sam. “Welcome to the Avengers Initiative, Sam Wilson. We’re excited to have you.” 

“Oh, good, we’re getting the flying guy. We don’t have enough fliers.” Stark walks up and taps his wrench against Sam’s back. It makes a metal clanging sound and when Sam twists, Darcy sees what looks like a metal backpack. “The design’s solid but I bet I can do better.” Stark pokes at the pack experimentally. 

“I’m not stupid enough to turn down an offer like that.” 

“Great. Now that that’s all settled.” Darcy claps her hands together. “Do we have an update on the rest of the team?” 

“Thor, Clint and Bruce are all at the Tower,” Steve reports. “Fury wants to keep them there. New York is a big operation. We might need people on the ground there.” 

Darcy nods as she contemplates that. Steve’s hand slips into hers, his thumb rubbing circles into the back of her hand. “What do you think, Captain?” 

“I think it’s sound logic,” he says. “We’re going to need you on fallout.” 

She nods, already tired just thinking about the press releases. “They’re really reporting Captain America going rogue?” 

Steve grimaces, but it’s Stark who answers. “Yup. Although most reports are dubious. Should be easy to convince them of Captain Spangles’s innocence.” 

Darcy nods. “We’ll need to coordinate then. I’ll reach out to a couple of my contacts. But I can’t start broadcasting or publicizing until you’ve started your attack.” 

“Stark will go with you,” Steve says. 

“No way,” Stark protests. “You’re going to need all the help you can get to raze SHIELD. I’ve been waiting for this for years.” 

“You are not destroying SHIELD,” Fury says. 

Steve turns to face him, arms crossed over his chest. “Respectfully, sir, you had your chance to deal with this. It’s rotten from the core. We burn it all.” He glances at Darcy and then to Stark. “Stay with Darcy until she’s on air, and then join us at the Triskelion. We’ll need you if any of those Helicarriers get into the air.” 

“So you know their plan?” Darcy asks, feeling a bit behind and groggy after her nap. 

“And it’s a doozy. Fucking Nazis,” Stark mutters with venom. “Let’s get this show on the road.” 

* * *

“Honestly, Darcy, what is this about?” Lizzie grumbles as she leads her and Tony through the broadcast station. “Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Meredith to even agree to see you?” 

“You are the best, Liz. If I could have you interview me, I absolutely would.” 

“Well, she wanted someone to ask about Captain America. So I was able to get you in, but she’s not going to make it easy on you. She’s not a fan.” Lizzie looks around the studio anxiously. 

Darcy stands still as a tech hooks her up to a mic. Another woman puts a dusting of make up on her face. Darcy can only imagine the kind of damage she has to cover up. But this is her domain. She glances at Tony who is busy covering his desire to act by flirting shamelessly with the hardass host Lizzie is busy warning her about. 

“Seems to like Iron Man well enough.” Darcy adjusts the professional blouse to smooth any wrinkles. It was close to her normal G-Man outfit: black dress pants and blouse, but instead of the nondescript white blouse and black jacket, she had a red lace shirt and a dark navy blouse, all bought and paid for by Tony Stark. 

“She hates Tony Stark,” Lizzie confides. “She makes nice but I can’t even begin to tell you the rants I’ve heard. Come on. I’ll introduce you.” The clock is ticking. They’ve planned this meticulously, even synchronized their watches. 

Meredith Walker, the interviewer, is an outspoken advocate of civil liberties. She constantly calls for protection of individual rights. She has a reputation for calling out corrupt officials, misogynism, and racism. Darcy kind of loves her, and she’s the last person to be a secret Nazi. 

“Meredith, this is Darcy Lewis. Darcy, Meredith Walker.” 

Meredith straightens and looks Darcy over. “You’re the director of the Avengers Initiative?” 

Darcy’s smile hardens a bit. “I am.” 

“You gave that report during the attack on New York.” Meredith tilts her head contemplatively. “Gave a couple press releases. Then you started appearing in the UN. Got dismissed as a politician. Biggest thing about you - besides your rack - was your connection to Thor.” 

Darcy purses her lips. “I was hired for my intergalactic policy work. The origin of the Avengers Initiative was centered on extraterrestrial threats.” 

“Origin, but not the current reality?” Meredith jumps on with interest. 

“Are you going to save any questions for the on camera interview?” Darcy asks with a laugh. Meredith quirks an eyebrow instead of answering. Darcy smiles and leans forward. “Between you and me, the Avengers Initiative started as a SHIELD department, but we’ve gone our separate ways.” 

A responding smirk. “Which is why you’re here to talk about Captain Rogers. SHIELD declared him a fugitive.” 

“They did,” Darcy agrees. “So, about that interview?” 

Meredith nods and then gestures to the crew with a swooping motion. “Alright, let’s get this going. Paul, don’t bother telling Sam we’re skipping the juggling segment. He’ll figure it out when we’re live. Lizzie,” she pauses to look at her petrified assistant, “good job.” 

Darcy takes a seat on the sound stage, under the bright lights and accepts a mug full of water from the same woman who helped with her mic. Meredith takes the seat next to her and moves the papers in front of her. 

“All you have to do is talk to me,” Meredith explains. “If you want to speak directly to the camera, pick one.” She points them out and then straightens and brushes her hair back over shoulder as someone shouts: 

“Going live in: 5, 4…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you thought or come find me on tumblr! Stay safe and stay healthy! <3


	8. How to Overthrow a Secret Government Agency While the Whole World Watches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy navigates PR, politics, and shady organizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just realized how many bookmarks this has and just, WOW. Thank you so much for reading and following this fic as I figure out where it's going. That is just amazing. <3 Thank you! 
> 
> As always, this is unbeta'd. I hope you enjoy!

**How to Overthrow a Secret Government Agency While the Whole World Watches**

“We’re here with the Director of the Avengers Initiative, Darcy Lewis. The Avengers came to prominence several years ago when they saved the Earth from the Chitari invaders as they attacked New York. Of course we know the members of the team, which include Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and two members who are now considered fugitives: Black Widow and Captain America. They were seen recently being taken into custody by unmarked black ops believed to be from SHIELD. The American public wants to know: what is happening? Are they fugitives?” 

“How could Captain America be a fugitive?” 

“Well, he is a man. We can’t be blind to that.” 

“Of course not. Captain Rogers is a man. He’s a man who risked his life in 1945 to rescue a camp of POWs, a man who spent years fighting Nazis, a man who sacrificed his life to save our country and destroy HYDRA. Does that sound like a man who would turn his back on our country?” 

“So why is he a wanted man?” 

“That’s an excellent question, Meredith. I certainly haven’t seen anything about that, have you?” 

“No. What we know is that he was seen fighting his way out of SHIELD Headquarters shortly after the announcement of Director Fury’s death, and that he was seen on that speedway fighting unknown men in black, but we are talking national security here.” 

“What if the threat is the agency itself?” 

“SHIELD?”

“This is the problem with secret government agencies, Meredith. No transparency. We have a very public display, where civilians were injured and known Avengers are seen fighting an unidentified enemy. Then you have a shady agency declare them fugitives to stop public uproar without giving any reason.” 

“So you’re saying there is a reason?” 

“Of course there’s a reason. The Black Widow and Captain America were investigating leaks within the  Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. The attack several days ago on Director Nicholas Fury was a coordinated response when he got too close. He charged the Black Widow and Captain America to find the parties responsible.” 

“You’re telling me that the nation’s largest protection agency was infiltrated?” 

“This wasn’t an infiltration. It is a takeover.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“They have taken over our government in all branches. They hold positions of power on the World Security Council. They are in our media, our companies, our own backyards. They are disguised as co-workers within the most powerful countries in the world.” 

“They?” 

“They’ve waited for years in the shadows, growing. A festering wound lying under the surface, but now they have enough power to act.” 

There’s a scuffle off to the side, someone running into the studio, harried and shouting to stop.

“SHIELD was infected from the inside when in the 1950s they integrated German scientists into their organization. From within, they were able to multiply and now they have taken over the organization. This has become a threat to the entire nation, and as such the Avengers are required to act, to protect the freedom, liberties, and lives of the human race.” 

“You’re talking HYDRA.” 

“I am.” 

“Nazis? Almost as hard to believe as Captain America being a fugitive.” 

“Any minute now you’ll find a release of files from SHIELD confirming what I’m telling you. HYDRA has infiltrated all levels of SHIELD. From Former Director Alexander Pierce, to their Strike Team headed by Brock Rumlow.” 

“And the man with the metal arm? He went toe to toe with Captain America.” 

“An enhanced POW. He’s been held by the enemy - tortured, experimented on, and brainwashed - since 1946.” 

“Impossible.” 

“Meredith, we’ve both seen Steve Rogers. It’s certainly not impossible, especially not when you’re talking about the most stubborn people imaginable, one who worked tirelessly for years to keep a sickly, asthmatic boy alive in a time of rationing and no polio vaccine.” 

“So the man…” 

“Is their secret weapon against Steve Rogers. In 1945, he was held at Azzano and given HYDRA’s version of the super soldier serum, which allowed him to survive when he fell of a train in the Alps almost a year later.” 

“Oh God-” 

“Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes was found by HYDRA. He underwent years of torture and brainwashing before they used him as an assassin under the codename Winter Soldier. Repeated brainwashing is required to keep him from remembering. We are talking about an organization which methodically erased a person’s entire being to use him to shape the political landscape of the last fifty years.” 

It takes Meredith a moment to find her footing, to remember that she is the one giving this interview. “Where did you find this information?” 

“The evidence is right here, on this flash drive, the basics of which should be released online...right about now.” 

“So what does that mean for the Avengers Initiative? You’re under SHIELD’s umbrella, correct?” 

“The Initiative started there, but we are an independent organization, dedicated to the protection of the Earth in the face of Doomsday threats and intergalactic diplomacy. We are recognized by the United Nations and authorized to deal with global threats. Members of the initiative continued their work with SHIELD and have taken it upon themselves to address the problem. What they discovered was Project Insight: a mission that targeted millions of people around the world whose priorities were aligned against HYRDA.” 

“People like who?” 

“I can assure you: both of us made that list.” 

“Then it sounds like I’m doing something right.” 

* * *

The whole TV interview feels like it was a dream. She hasn’t completely processed it, even as she stares out the window at the burning remains of the helicarriers. Plumes of smoke billow into the air and the buzz of the comm in her ear confirms her team is still alive. Stark reached them quickly enough after the broadcast started, and the carriers were taken down quickly. 

“Status on Barnes?” Darcy asks quietly. 

“Lewis, please tell me you are not still at the studio. You just outed some very powerful people. You need to be moving,” Natasha cautions. 

Darcy hikes her bag over her shoulder and starts walking. “I’m moving. I’m also armed, which you already know. So, Barnes?” 

“Murderbot is with Spangles. Looks like he’s having some sort of break down,” Tony reports. “Oooh! Now Birdbrain 2 is on the scene. Bet he’s doing that GI mind-meld thing.” 

“Can it, Stark,” Darcy says as she makes it to the lobby. Her eyes immediately spot a couple men in black that converge when they see her. “I’ve got eyes on me.” 

“Damn it.” 

“Don’t let them take you. Wait for one of us.” 

“I don’t know if that’s going to be an option.” Darcy stops in the foyer to stare at the suit approaching her. He’s already pulling out a badge to flash at her. 

“Miss Lewis-” 

“Director,” she corrects. Her fear is suppressed under a tight smile. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“My title is Director. If you’re looking to speak to me in my official role, which I’d guess you are, it is Director Lewis.” The security guard at the front desk has eyes on them, but for the most part eyes are focused on television screens stationed around the ground floor or on the horizon where smoke rises above the buildings. Not a promising sign. 

“Director Lewis,” the agent relents. “We need you to come with us.” 

“Given the circumstances of this latest attack, I’m sure you can appreciate why that won’t be happening, at least not until I have back-up.” 

“I’m afraid we don’t have the time for that, Director.” The partner moves around so that her only route away if further into the building. 

“Look, agents, I just outed a fascist organization that infiltrated the highest levels of government, so there is no way I am going with you anywhere without at least a lawyer, if not a security detail. I would love to help, truly I would, but not until I can assure my safety.” Her hands float out from her body in an innocent gesture. She’s not a threat. “What agency did you say you were from, again?”

She blocks out the voices in her comm unit. They’re shouts are not of the helpful variety when they’re halfway across the city dealing with literal explosions and dumpster fires. 

“Director Lewis.” Happy Hogan comes to stand beside her although his gaze remains focused on the two agents in front of her. 

“Excellent. Happy Hogan, my security detail,” she says with a smile. “These are the agents who didn’t introduce themselves or what agency they worked with. Given my history with secret government agencies, I’m thinking we shouldn’t go with them.” 

“That would be advisable. They are more than welcome to come to our headquarters or send a request to our office.” Happy looks at both of them with that polite indifference. 

“Excellent. Mulder and Scully, from the unknown creeper agency, our headquarters are in Avengers Tower, New York. You can contact my office there.” Her feet ache in her shoes. “We’ll be co-ordinating on the Hill for the next couple days. Maybe we can have a proper introduction. Until then.” 

Darcy’s feet ache with each step across the marble floor. The heels aren’t something she’s worn for any length of time before, at least not this tall and stiletto. She does kitten heels and wedges. Unless it’s a night out or other special occasion. She really hopes this isn’t a requirement of her new job. Granted, maybe Pepper Potts will share with her the secrets of awesome shoes. That woman has great taste in shoes. 

“Stark, Spider, Sparrow, Happy and I are out,” Darcy says into her comms as she walks to the black car that idles on the curb. 

“She does know it’s Falcon, right?” 

“Can it, bluebird. Why don’t I get a cute nickname?” Stark asks. 

“Because you’re already a menace. Cap, are you good for a statement there? I’m heading to Capitol Hill to make my own.” The dim light in the back of the town car casts her face in shadow. Her compact helps slightly as Darcy touches up her make-up in preparation for another TV spot. She longs for the days when she wore oversized sweaters and beanies. “Cap? How’s the Sergeant?” 

There’s muttered conversation in the background. Darcy can’t make out the words, which is her clue that Steve’s either lost his comm or has himself on mute. It makes sense given the private conversation with Barnes - and she’s thankful that she knows he’s alive and with friends - but it also makes Darcy a bit antsy that she can’t confirm all her people are alive personally. She won’t settle until she can see each of them in person and check them over herself. 

“Somebody talk to me.” Darcy grabs the tablet Happy hands her and skims through JARVIS’s report on the internet’s response. The internet has flooded with classified SHIELD and HYDRA files and it seems that most of the internet doesn’t know how to feel about the reports, although the Avengers did manage to get in front of this. Pepper is backing her up from New York. Clint is helping clear SHIELD agents as possible friendlies and rehires apparently. 

“Widow and I will make a statement. Capsicle and friends are falling back for medical assistance. Pep managed to get a brain doc last minute. Happy will get you to them after you talk to the specks on the hill.” 

Darcy nods. “Right. Well, be prepared because you’ll all have to speak to them eventually. There are going to be trials and Congress is going to want to talk to each and every one of you.” She looks at the press gathered on the stairs of the Capitol Building. She never wanted to be on camera. When she thinks politics, she thinks more Scandal and less talk show host. 

“Here goes nothing.” 

Happy exists first and walks around the car to open the door for her. Darcy channels her inner goddess as she walks purposefully up the stairs. Thor had wanted to officially appoint her as Ambassador of Asgard after the battle of New York. He claimed she was his Shield Sister and therefore an honorary member of Asgard. She had never felt as powerful as she did standing in Asgardian garb in the middle of the throne room, eyes on her as Thor declaimed her exploits in protecting animals and felling him with lightning. Darcy channels that power now. 

“Miss Lewis!” 

“Director!” 

“Darcy Lewis!” 

“Can you answer questions about SHIELD?” 

“What is happening?” 

“Why are they lying to the American public?” 

Darcy ignores all the shouts as she walks through the crowd. She stops once she passes all the reporters about halfway up the steps and turns so she can talk to them. If she’s planned this right, the building should be symbolically displayed behind her. 

“I understand you all have questions,” She says to get their attention. Her voice is level and they quiet to hear what she has to say. “I am here to report to Congress on the situation. I can say that Project Insight has been foiled and that the Avengers have control of the Triskelion and of the SHIELD base in New York.” Her phone beeps and Darcy pulls it out. The only person still dark is Coulson. 

“Director L-” The reporter cuts off as Darcy raises her hand. 

The text is simple: Ward is HYRDA. Bus compromised. Team underground. 

Darcy hands the phone off to Happy. That’s not encouraging news. 

“Was that Captain America?” A reporter shouts. 

Darcy looks at the crowd, which is staring at her, cameras blinking red as they record her. “Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Falcon successfully took down the helicarriers and rescued POW Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. Sergeant Barnes is being taken to a military treatment facility where he will be debriefed and will receive medical attention. Hulk and Thor assisted containment of the New York base. Members of the Avengers’ Initiative are combing through the SHIELD files released today and will be expanding their operations.” 

She glances at her audience, still rapt. “As of this moment, we are advising that all SHIELD badges are suspended. Per guidelines, the Avengers’ involvement ends with the termination of Project Insight. We look forward to working in conjunction with the United States government to help them determine the extent to which HYDRA has infiltrated our political sphere. The Avengers Initiative reaffirms its commitment to the protection of Planet Earth through diplomatic and martial means. Any questions can be directed to the Initiative through our office in New York. Thank you.” 

With that, she turns to the building. Now she just needs to meet with the Speaker of the House, and another long list of politicians, who will all complain that she should have spoken with them first, which will result in her trying to politely tell them that she couldn’t have done so because of moles in their offices. These are powerful men and women. They don’t like being the last to know. 

It’s going to be a long couple of hours. 

* * *

The world would normally be dark by now, smothered by sleep and exhaustion after a long day. That it’s not is only indicative of how upsetting the downfall of SHIELD is. It looks as if all the first responders are still out and about. Traffic is at a near gridlock. The only thing that has her town car moving at all is the official escort with their flashing red and blue lights. Her last cup of coffee is a distant memory. She can feel the weight of her eyelids calling her to crash. 

The city, however, is far from quiet. Crews work to fish the wreckage of the helicarriers from the Potomac. Debris is being sorted, people carried away, and through it all, cameras film ever last bit. Somewhere, Pepper and JARVIS are sifting through the media circus. Maria Hill should be in New York by now. She has confirmation that Coulson made contact again, but that was all she could get while trapped in that fabled “Room Where it Happens.” 

Isn’t that the surreal whipped cream on today’s insanity sundae? She was in a room with political juggernauts today, where they talked about the Initiative’s future. Decisions were made that she participated in. Part of her wants to squeal and jump around in circles. That part is also four, had way too much sugar, and should have been in bed hours ago. 

“Ma’am?” 

Darcy turns her attention to the driver. Happy disappeared hours ago, relieved by the fabled Colonel Rhodes, who is currently sleeping in the seat beside her. Some bodyguard. 

“Yes, Jones?” 

“Jacobs, ma’am,” he corrects. “We’re arriving now. It appears Miss Rushman is to escort you from here.” 

“Oh, goody,” Darcy mumbles. She won’t even start with the fact that Tony still has all his security refer to Natasha as her alias. It’s just another thing on the list of childish behavior he engages in. But Natasha means that it’s not time to sleep yet. She still needs to lay eyes on all her people. “Rhodes.” The man jerks awake. 

“I’m up.” 

“Glad to hear it. We’re here.” She stretches her hands over her head. She mourns the state of her new blouse, now wrinkled and probably a bit stale with a day’s worth of sweat. It’s probably the most expensive piece of clothing she’s ever worn. It probably needs to be dry cleaned. 

She can feel the blisters on her feet as they land on the ground. In the heels, she’s taller than Natasha. The woman looks as immaculate as always. Darcy doesn’t know if it’s true but she is damn well going to tell herself that Nat was able to get a shower after the battle to make herself feel better. 

“Everyone okay?” Darcy asks Natasha as she focuses on walking without stumbling. Only the reminder that she’s wearing make-up deters her from rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and even then just barely. 

“Steve took the most damage. He’s refusing to leave Barnes’s side.” Natasha pauses. It’s the closest thing she can approximate to nerves from the spy. “You should talk to Tony. He found something in the Winter Soldier’s files. It’s not good.” 

As much as her bed calls its siren song, Darcy recognizes the wisdom in those words. She follows the course Natasha indicates and comes to a small waiting room that Tony has commandeered. His hair is in disarray from the number of times his hand has run through it. Pepper is obviously up on a screen, talking to him, her concern palpable. 

Darcy eases the door open, knocking quietly on it to gain Tony’s attention. His face is serious as he turns to her. “Have you been through the files?” 

“Haven’t had time. I’ve been dealing with politicians all day.” She takes in the projected screens. They’re lists of confirmed kills. She can make out cyrilic writing behind English translations, clearly courtesy of JARVIS. “I assume there was something surprising.” 

Tony flicks a file out of the pack. “December 1991.” 

Darcy steps closer to the projected screen. Her breath catches in her throat as she realizes what she’s reading. The video is projected alongside the file. “Tony…” 

“He killed my parents.” His anger is palpable, hands curled to fists, eyes shut down as he stares, transfixed, at the video. Tremors wrack his body. “I suspected foul play when Obie turned on me, but never...HYDRA. God, I never thought…” 

Her hand finds his shoulder and squeezes the chorded muscle. “I’m so sorry, Tony.” 

“He was working on the super soldier serum. That’s what they wanted. His files from the time weren’t all digitized so I can’t go through them here, but he might have even figured out SHIELD was compromised. And they sent…” his voice breaks. “He recognized him. You can hear it. He calls him Barnes. He knew who they sent and he didn’t even…” Tony’s voice chokes off. “Howard…” 

Darcy pulls an unresisting Tony into a hug. “Oh, Tony.” 

“Have you seen what they did to him?” 

She can’t keep up with who he’s talking about now. “To?” 

“Barnes. They effectively cooked his brain. Electrical stimulation continuously. Until he couldn’t remember his own name. If he wasn’t enhanced, he’d be a vegetable a thousand times over. I want to hate him, but...God, do you have any idea what torture does to the human psyche?” Tony pulls away and starts pulling up studies alongside harrowing reports on the Winter Soldier project. “This is a whole level of unexplored twisted. I can’t. I can’t reconcile it. I just…” 

Bile builds at the back of Darcy’s throat as she looks at the papers. She suspected it was bad, but this...this is something else. “You shared this with the Department of Defense?” 

He nods. “Yeah. They’re using it for the debrief or what not. It’s clear he didn’t act of his own volition. Years of torture before they got him to stop screaming for Steve. He remembered Cap long after he forgot his own name. He’s with a therapist and God knows who now. Seemed to be coming back to himself. Cap’s with him. I can’t face him, Lewis. I know it wasn’t him, but...they used him to kill Howard...my mother…” 

She squeezes Tony’s arm. “No. I get it. He was the last face they saw. Why don’t you head back to New York. Help with damage control there. I’ll stick with the geriatric soldiers. The facility upstate?” 

“I’m putting a rush on the residential section. Most of it is just finishing touches. Probably good for a recovering POW.” Tony runs a hand over his face. 

“You need your distance. That’s okay, Tony.” Darcy glances at Pepper, whose worry echoes her own. “You should talk to someone.” Maybe this is the push he needs to finally address those issues that have been cropping up. Daddy issues doesn’t even break the surface of what Tony has to work through and this just proves that. He stares at her in disbelief and Darcy scowls. “Nope. None of that male stoicism. You’re hurting. You have been for a while. I probably shouldn’t have let you out into the field to begin with. The Initiative is going to start instituting psych evals.” 

“I think that’s a good idea,” Pepper contributes from her screen. 

“The team isn’t what I would call well adjusted,” Darcy agrees with a self-deprecating grin. “Couldn’t hurt at the least.” 

“Barnes falls under the Initiative?” Tony asks wryly. 

Darcy shrugs as she flicks through more files. “If he wants to. We’re letting the Army handle it since he’s one of theirs, but you know Cap.” He’s not going to leave Bucky out in the cold. They all know that. If it comes to that, Darcy’s not sure where the Avengers fall and what that means for the Initiative. Ideally, they’ll never need to find out. “You heard from Coulson?” 

“Apparently, they were dealing with their own mole. Its handled, but more of SHIELD fell. Something about a place called the Hub? They were able to secure the Icebox, I think? Eyepatch is tying up some loose ends. I get the feeling this isn’t the end for them. They’re going back to basics. We’ve got Hill and a couple score of agents already applying for jobs with the Initiative. You sure you want them?”

“I trust Nat, Hill, and Clint to vet them. People we don’t have to train are always a plus.” Darcy sighs. “Honestly, I’m too tired to think much. I loved flexing my political muscles. Let’s not do that again for a while. Cool? Cool.” 

“Sure, kid. Go say hi to Capsicle. I’ll be in touch in the morning.” 

Darcy sighs. It’s just a reminder that she has more to do before she gets to sleep. “Yeah. Sure. Pepper, let me know if there’s anything else I have to do.” 

“I couldn’t have done any better,” the redhead says with a smile. “I’ve got to get back to Stark Industries. Tony, I’ll see you soon?” 

He nods and they make some sort of meaningful eye contact. Darcy turns to give them some privacy. Her ankle twists when she doesn’t place her foot just right and Darcy curses when her sleep-addled brain just barely allows her to catch herself on a chair. Her hip bangs against the arm over the chair as she controls her body to fall into the seat. She pulls over her shoes and massages the balls of her feet with a relieved groan. 

“You okay there, short stuff?” Tony asks. 

Darcy looks up. All the screens are gone and it’s just the two of them in the room. The last thing she wants to do now is stand up and walk somewhere else. She collapses back into the chair, which is absolutely not as comfortable as she wants it to be. “Aside from losing all feeling in my feet, just peachy. Please tell me Steve isn’t far.” 

“Down the hall. I’ll walk you.” 

She waves off the offer. She hasn’t had a moment alone all day. All she wants is to check on each of her people and then crash on the nearest flat surface. She winces at the pain as her feet flatten. The cool tile of the floor does little to soothe it as she tenatatively stretches her toes against the floor. 

Tony frowns at her. “Steve’s in with Amnesiac Assassin.” True worry haunts his eyes even as he taps away at yet another futuristic device. “You don’t have to do this. I’ve had people go over the house. You can sleep for a couple hours and come back.” 

“No. I won’t be able to sleep until I know everyone’s alright.” She’ll probably pass out with Steve’s shoulder as a pillow if she had to guess. “Try not to pull an all-nighter sifting through that mess. Where are Steve and Bucky?” 

“Down the hall, to the right. The room should be guarded. The whole wing was cleared as a precaution.” 

“What? No shadow? We’re done playing pass-the-Darcy between bodyguards?” Okay, maybe exhaustion is making her testy just as much as the constant company.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re in a military hospital, guarded by our people with the Black Widow doing rounds. If anything happens, scream.” 

There’s the callous Tony that hides the gooey center. Darcy rolls her eyes. A thought occurs to her out of the blue, from some random connection that makes sense somewhere in the depth of her consciousness. “We should have an instagram post: a ‘we fought and we won’ kind of thing. Preferably with Captain Victory in there. Did you know someone got a recording of the speech he made in the Triskelion?” 

Tony blinks at the change of topic, but his mind catches up quickly and he types in another line of command. “I’ll get it emailed to you. Go find Capsicle and Murderbot. Sleep. You’ve got another busy day tomorrow.” 

Darcy groans. “Great. You should get some sleep too. See you in the morning, Stark.” 

Shoes in hand, Darcy ventures out into the hallway. The cold tiles and the movement of her feet finally ease the pain although she still feels the fatigue in every muscle and ever joint. She spies a nurse disappearing into an elevator. There’s a G. I. on guard there that nods at her before facing straight forward again. Otherwise the floor is empty. 

She takes the first right and is faced with a set of double doors. One of those handy signs tells her she’s headed into a secure wing, as do the two guards who stop her and wait patiently as she fumbles for her ID. 

If she wasn’t so busy stifling a yawn, she might have noticed the looks exchanged by the soldiers. 

“Miss Lewis, access beyond this point is restricted.” 

“I’m on the list,” she assures them, and then frowns. “If there is a list. I’m Director of the Avengers Initiative.” She pulls out her official badge and holds it up. “I believe you’ve got my men beyond this door.” 

One of the guards takes her credentials and glances at his comrade. “We have other orders.” 

Her heart rate spikes in a desperate attempt to wake her up enough to process the sudden tension in the air. “What?” 

“Director Lewis.” 

Darcy spins to look back down the hallway, only to find the two agents who accosted her earlier after her TV interview. She frowns. “Suit 1 and Suit 2 from the unnamed agency. Great. Cornering me in a hospital. Looks like you finally got me alone.” She holds her hands out to the guards, but they hold on to her IDs, staring back impassively. 

“What do you want?” She asks the agents. 

“To finish our conversation from earlier,” Suit 1 says with an attempted friendly smile. 

“Great. Start with your names and showing me your badges.” Darcy crosses her arms. 

“Our superiors want to meet with you.” 

“As I said earlier, I’m not going anywhere with you.” The guards step forward and latch on to her arms. “Hey!” 

“We have our orders, Director. We’d prefer you to come willingly, but we are authorized to use force.” Suit 2 clasps their hands in front of them. The bland pleasantness is really starting to get on her nerves. 

“Authorized by who?” 

“Classified.” 

“Nuh-uh. Not going to cut it.” She doesn’t have shoes on, otherwise Darcy’s first thought would be to stop on some feet, although how well that would go over on combat boots, she’s not sure. She drops all her weight so it comes down on the arms now holding her up. The guards stumble and she’s able to yank one arm free. She follows it with a swift kick to the guard’s solar plexis before she flips the guard over her shoulder. 

She delivers a strike at the first guard, proud and sickened when she hears his nose break and feels the warm rush of blood. She scoops her IDs from the floor, which allows Suit 1 to grab for her. The stumbling step she falls back puts her off balance. The agent’s fingers bruise her arm. 

“Sorry for this, Miss Lewis. We tried to do this the nice way.” 

She sees the syringe from the corner of her eye and struggles to get away from the needle. She screams and flails, any organized fighting lost as she struggles for her life. A hand clamps over her mouth and Darcy bites the flesh until she tastes blood. She wants to throw up, but she refuses to stop, even as the needle punctures her skin. 

There is no good scenario here. It doesn’t matter if they’re HYDRA or something else. There is no magical turn of events where the people drugging her could be considered the good guys. The drugs kick in and Darcy slumps as her body starts to shut down. The agent removes his hand from her mouth and Darcy spits blood onto the floor, anything to show there was a fight, something for the good guys to follow. 

Aided by her own exhaustion, her brain goes fuzzy, no longer able to attribute meaning to the words she’s hearing. She hears a door opening as her eyes close and then the blackness swallows her again. This is not the way she finally wanted to get some rest.

* * *

Darcy abhors being cast in the role of damsel in distress. This is kidnapping attempt number two in as many days and she’s already just done. The dark cramped space that she’s pretty sure is a car trunk tells her that this attempt at least has been successful. 

Her wrists are bound, her feet too, which lends credence to the fact that the suits weren’t actually agents. Or if they were, they worked in an even shadier area than SHIELD, which is really saying something. 

There’s feeling in her fingers as she moves them, although the chords they used bite into her skin. Darcy lifts her hands to her mouth and searches for the knot. She uses her teeth to loosen the knot, the whole time mentally cursing in every language she can think of. It feels like eons before the knot finally starts to loosen. 

Only once she feels the ropes fall away does Darcy start to pay attention to the rocking motion of the car. They’re moving at a steady speed, which probably means highway. Ergo, there should be someone to see when she kicks a brake light out.  _ If  _ there’s even anyone out on the road at whatever time of the night there is. 

There doesn’t appear to be much in the trunk with Darcy as she quietly feels around in the space only to find carpet. She reaches down next for the bindings around her ankles. They come away easier, although at least one of her freshly painted nails is definitely damaged beyond repair, a small price to pay in the scheme of things. 

A quick check confirms her pockets are empty and her jewelry taken. Not that any of it could be used to track her. Well, she supposes the Stark phone would be her best bet. Hopefully, they didn’t toss the phone… 

Wait. 

Darcy reaches up to her ear and fumbles around for the comm implant. She turned it off after being dropped in the Capitol Building, but it was microscopic and she’s willing to bet that Stark has some way of tracking it. With an internal cheer, she flips on the device thankfully still on her. 

“JARVIS?” she whispers to the dark trunk. 

Nothing. 

“J-man?” 

“Lewis?” 

Her heart skips a beat. Definitely not JARVIS, but absolutely a good sound. “Hawkguy, please tell me you can track me.” 

Clint lets out a breath of relief. “Can do, sweetheart. Gave us quite a scare there. Hospital had to dose Cap to stop him from going after you himself.” 

She rubs the top of her head and her upper arm where it stings from whatever shot they gave her. “How long?” 

“Couple hours. What can you tell me about where they have you?” 

“Car trunk,” she whispers. The car jolts as they go over a bump. “Still moving. They shot me up with something. Two suits. The same ones Happy saved me from earlier.” 

She hears Clint speak to someone else and then his voice is back, closer than before. “We’ve got Nat and the new guy enroute. They’re doing something to obscure the GPS tracker in the ear piece. Stark is working on it. You just got to hold on, short stuff.” 

“Who are they?” 

“We’re working on that too,” Clint says. “We don’t think it’s HYDRA. They’re occupied elsewhere. This is someone new.” 

Fear, cold and paralyzing spreads down her spine. HYDRA she knew. HYDRA she could deal with. Anything else though? Is it a relief they want her alive? 

“Gotta be real here, Robin Hood. Kind of freaking the fuck out.” 

“Darcy?” The new voice is frantic but relief immediately relaxes the fear in her veins. 

“I’m here, Steve.” 

“Thank God. There was blood and the guards were gone. Nat and Sam, they’re going to get you.” 

“The guards?” Darcy has to focus on something and there’s not much she can do right now from this trunk. So she decides to pick apart the events that led her to this moment. “Were they in on it? Is that how the suits got in?” She keeps her voice low, barely above a whisper. 

There’s silence over the comms. 

“Steve? Clint?” More emptiness. “Someone say something because we’re going back to the freaking out thing.” 

“They’re dead,” Steve answers softly. “They got through the perimeter with clearance that didn’t check. The hospital is on lock down now.” 

“Stevie boy is stuck on account of his ribs needing healing,” Clint chimes in. 

“Ribs?” She asks, because it’s better than focusing on her situation. She never did get to check in on him. 

“It’s nothing. Bucky’s got a helluva punch. I’m fine. Be good as new in a couple hours.” 

Darcy frowns. “Must have been bad if it’s going to take that long.” 

Steve makes a noncommittal noise which just affirms her assumption. “You’ve got everyone worried sick, Doll. Even Buck wanted to go after you. Didn’t let him on account of the mental strain, but he remembered you from the train.” 

“Sounds like he’s doing better.” She wonders what that means. It’s distracting her from her situation at the very least. “He remember you?” 

“Some things. Doc says he’s got extensive brain damage along with a whole lot else. He’s got some version of the serum that seems like it’s trying to heal him.” Steve sounds tired as he gives his account. “Tony’s flying an expert in from somewhere. Bruce wants to get him to the tower. It’s not great, but he’s also...he’s still there enough to recognize…” 

The car starts to slow and Darcy’s abruptly thrown from Steve’s recounting back into the moment, where she’s trapped in a trunk with unknown assailants working towards what she assumes are nefarious deeds. “We’re stopping.” 

“Okay,” Clint says. “Hold tight, Darce. Got anything you can use as a weapon? It’s a trunk, how about a tire iron?” 

She resumes her fumble, still aiming to be as quiet as possible. “Nothing.” 

“It might be in a smaller compartment. Anything you can open?” 

“Clint.” Her voice takes on a desperate whine that makes her cringe. Her fear is starting to take over. 

“Okay, listen to me, Darce. When they open that trunk, I want you to attack, alright? However you can. Nails, teeth, elbows, knees. Do whatever you can to get free and get a good look at your surroundings, okay? Don’t try to talk to us. We don’t need them to find the comm. Got it? Remember: Sam and Nat are on their way to you.” 

“Okay,” Darcy says, twisting so she faces the opening of the trunk. It’s only as she works to get her feet under her that she realizes she’s barefoot and bites back a groan. Yeah, this is gonna hurt like a bitch. 

There’s a sound like a large door opening, the heavy chain of an industrial cargo door. The car moves forward again. “They’re parking in a building. There was some kind of cargo door or something.” She can’t explain it other than the sounds echo, like the space is big. It doesn’t sound contained. Or maybe she’s going crazy and that doesn’t make any sense. 

“Okay, good. That helps, Darce. I’ve got Sam and Tash on another line. They’re closing in. Just hold tight.” 

Darcy practices her breathing and nearly screams when there’s two sudden, loud bangs on the trunk over her head. 

“Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty!” 

The trunk pops open and Darcy lunges with a scream. She goes for the largest figure, but they’re ready for her and he neatly side steps. Darcy doesn’t give herself time to doubt and throws elbows out at midsections, punches to faces and then races back towards the door next to the cargo door that they brought her in from. 

Her hand wraps around the metal knob when an arm catches around her waist and yanks her back viciously. Her elbow connects with her captor’s nose and she manages to get loose as he cries out in pain. 

This time she gets the door open before suit 2 is there. She stumbles out of the door and immediately screams “FIRE!” because she remembers from a class once that people won’t react if you say ‘help’ but will to ‘fire.’ It’s a decent plan, if she does say so herself, but the major flaw is that there’s no one around. 

All she sees are warehouses, lit up with outdoor flood lights, but not a single person in sight. She picks a direction and runs. Pebbles bite into the fleshy bottom of her feet and her throat aches from the screams. She takes note of the names on each of the warehouses before she’s tackled from behind. The collision to the ground leaves scrapes and she can feel the gravel digging in to open wounds.

Her fighting is feral now, her screams mixed with tears. 

“Knew we should have just given you a higher dose,” the man on her mutters as he jabs her with another needle. 

The Stark logo on the warehouse mocks her as the drug enters her system and Darcy surrenders to darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think! 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr with the same username. Y'all are the best!


	9. The Kidnapping Class Did Not Prepare Me for This

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back after the last cliffhanger! It's a bit shorter but a lot happens so: Enjoy! Happy reading!

**The Kidnapping Class Did Not Prepare Me for This**

Darcy wakes suddenly, jarred into awareness, her last memory fresh in her mind. Remembering her lessons with Natasha and Bobbi, she keeps her eyes shut. They taught her to feign sleep for as long as possible so she can get a sense of where she is before whoever has her know she’s awake. She’s upright now, reclined but sitting up. There’s a slight pressure across her chest and wide bands across her wrists that secure them to the chair. Or what she guesses is a chair because a bed would be more comfortable and less...cold and metal. 

“We know you’re awake, Miss Lewis.” 

Stubbornly, she keeps her eyes close even as her heart races. She hadn’t even known there was someone in the room with her. They’ve reverted back to the Miss instead of Director, so they’re not even attempting respect now apparently. 

She yelps as ice cold water douses her. Her eyes fly open and she sputters for breath. The strap across her chest stops her from sitting up. Rapid blinks clear the water from her eyes. The man in front of her is not one of the suits. Although Suit 1 is holding the empty bucket presumably used to wake her up. Or is it Suit 2? 

She can’t remember which one is which. 

Not that it matters. The suits are just goons. It’s the man in the middle who’s in charge here. Darcy tilts her head as she looks at him. He’s got a bit of that Tony Stark, I’m-the-smartest-person-in-the-room swagger. He’s assured in a way his goons aren’t. 

“Thank you for joining us, Miss Lewis,” the man says with a smile that might even be charming in different circumstances. 

“Well, who could say no to such an invitation?” she snarks back. 

The comms in her ear buzzes to life. “You scared us there, milaya.” Nat’s voice soothes her and immediately calls to mind their lessons at SHIELD. This is just like that...just a lot more dangerous. “We’re in the area. I need you to tell me what you can about where they’re holding you, how many guys you see…” 

“You know, your lackeys really leave something to be desired. No finesse. Sure they were nice enough the first time but failing marks on the account of the whole kidnap thing. And then there’s you, Mister…” She waits but he just stares back blankly. “What? No name? 

“Hm...I work with the U.S. government, Miss Lewis.” 

“Doubtful, considering you just kidnapped a United States Citizen. If this was legitimate, you would have sent someone to collect me from the Capitol Building instead of waiting until I was alone to kidnap me.” Her eyes dart around the small room. From her seat, she can see a medical tray that she’d prefer not to think about as it pertains to her. She half expects a one way mirror but there’s none in sight. 

The man shrugs. “That’s what we started as, but you’ll learn, Miss Lewis, that there’s only so much you can do in the light of day. Sometimes for the sake of progress, you need to work outside the system.” 

Or you just create your own system, which is what the Avenger’s Initiative is doing. All legally and openly and all that jazz because this is just bad news. Her logic isn’t about to make a dent in Mister Self-Righteous’s armor. “So you’re one of those assholes who refuse to give any woman her rightful title, huh?” 

The man smiles tightly. “See, I would, Miss Lewis, except it’s become clear to me that the Avenger’s Initiative, no matter how you wrap it up, is Tony Stark’s baby. You’re just a figurehead.” 

She scowls. “What?” 

“Your offices, your funding: it all comes from Stark. The origin of Initiative tracks back to SHIELD, an organization founded by a Stark. You’re not a director: you’re a figurehead.” 

“Fuck you,” she shouts back, more shocked at the audacity than angry, although the ire is creeping up at being so viciously underestimated. “Sounds like you’re the one obsessed with Stark.” 

The man smiles tightly. “Tony Stark is a coward. He’s not willing to do what needs to be done to change the world.” 

“What does that have to do with me?” She asks. The voices in her ear are all abuzz with the new knowledge. She really just needs to keep him talking. It’s the villain monologue that gives her heroes time to find her. 

The man steps forward and plays with something on the medical tray, something she can see. “You know,” he says conversationally, “I had a plan. I was going to set up a meeting with Pepper Potts about funding. Stark Industries could finally help us complete our latest project.” He picks up a syringe and glances at her. 

Darcy squirms uncomfortably. She really hopes her earpiece is picking this up. 

“And then this new organization crops up.” He shakes the vial in his hand, staring at the liquid within. “The Avengers’ Initiative. Have to admit, I was impressed. They found a pretty face.” He walks over to her and dabs at her inner elbow with an alcohol swab. Darcy fights her restraints but her arm doesn’t budge, held too firm in the chair. 

“Uh, uh, uh, don’t squirm. Wouldn’t want to mess up this injection.” The needle pierces her skin and Darcy fights back a futile whine. “It’s still not perfected yet,” he explains as he retracts the syringe. “Doctor Hanson has expressed some concerns about Extremis. She claims we need Tony Stark. I’m not sure she’s right.” 

He places the syringe back on the med tray and looks at her contemplatively. “Honestly, Miss Lewis, I hope you survive this. Perhaps saving your life will be enough motivation for him.” He looks at his watch. 

Darcy’s muscles start to spasm and she chokes on a scream. Her whole body shakes and her blood feels like it’s on fire in her veins. “What did you give me?” 

“It’s all in the file. You can make sure Stark gets it when he finds you. It also gives you a way to contact us once he figures it out.” The man turns towards the door. 

“Why the hell would Stark help you?” Darcy grits out through her pain. It was something Natasha told her, back in training: even when you can’t fight, even when they have you strapped down, there are choices you can make. You need to make as many choices as you can. Do not be helpless. So she’s choosing to focus on the information she has. 

He looks blandly back at her. “To save your life.” 

She laughs. “I think you’re overestimating how much I mean to him. Like you said: I’m just a pretty face.” Her voice warbles as pain shoots through her body. She feels too hot. 

The left side of his mouth lifts into a smirk. “We’re not idiots, Miss Lewis. You know, you’re a lot like you’re father.” 

This time the pain brings a scream she can’t contain and her eyes squeeze shut. 

“He’ll contact us,” the man says over her scream. “At the very least when he vows to destroy us.”

The wave ebbs and Darcy pries her eyes open. “Who are you?” 

She doesn’t hear the answer. 

* * *

“Milaya.” 

Darcy winces away from cold hands. She peeks her eyes open cautiously. The pain she might expect after whatever cocktail she was given is non-existent. She opens her eyes all the way and sees Natasha working on one side and Sam on the other. Her exhaustion wears on her, but any pain is gone. 

A cool breeze alerts Darcy to another problem, one that she had missed earlier when mad scientist injected her: she’s not wearing any clothes. Someone stripped her down to her underwear. 

“Don’t suppose you brought a change of clothes?” 

Sam - gentleman that he is - is looking away and poking at the room. 

“Thor is on it,” Natasha says. She pulls off her jacket and hands it to Darcy. 

She looks it over. “I appreciate that, but you and I are not the same size, so that’s not going to work.” Darcy turns her hands over. She frowns at the smooth skin. “I scraped these.” 

Natasha grabs her hands and looks them over as Darcy takes stock of the rest of her body. She pulls her hand away and brings it to her ribs. 

“Nothing hurts.” She meets Natasha’s eyes as her breath speeds up. “Tash, I had bruises, cuts. They’re gone. He injected me with something-” 

“Extremis.” 

Darcy jumps. Stark is there, staring at the folder her captor had pointed to. She swallows hard. “Tony, he wanted…” 

He looks up at her, face solemn. “I heard, Double D.” He smiles sadly. “You want the good news or the bad news?” 

“Bad news,” she says without hesitation. 

“It looks like a nasty cocktail that has a tendency of blowing people up.” Tony scowls. 

Darcy nods. “Right. Of course. But there’s good news?” 

“It’s a super soldier serum,” he says flippantly. “Every injury will heal. Increased stamina, durability. Might even make you stronger than Steve.” 

“Until I blow up,” she fills in. “So what? The more I use it, the more unstable it becomes?” Now that she’s safe, her feelings are rolling over her. She’s with people who can protect her. It gives her the permission she needs to break down. 

“Hey, we’ll figure this out, Lewis.” Stark awkwardly pulls her into a hug as Darcy sobs. He pats her back and then seems to realize her state of undress and she can practically feel the unease coming off him. A moment later his arms wrap around her more fully and she can feel the tension in his frame ease. “You’ll be okay.”

The others are exchanging looks over her head. She can practically feel it, the unspoken words and worrying frowns. None of it helps. 

“Steve’s on his way,” Natasha murmurs, breaking through Darcy’s daze. She turns her head to see Natasha even if she hasn’t let go of Tony. “Pretty sure Barnes is with him.” 

Darcy takes a deep breath and finally straightens. “Right. Should he be doing that?” Her eyes land specifically on Tony. He has the most experience with all that legalese and being held prisoner. She shifts her gaze to Sam. Or maybe the military man knows. 

Sam shrugs. “Steve wasn’t about to let anyone stop him. If you mean, Barnes, well, there’s not much physically wrong with him. They were going to release him this morning, but probably to a base for further evaluation. Instead, they’re releasing him into Avenger’s custody, although they still want military access pending an investigation. I don’t know what Steve said, but I guarantee that its a case of the U.S. Army not wanting to say no to Captain America.” 

Well, that both makes her job harder and easier, she guesses. She doesn’t quite have the mindset to be politically savvy right now. “So we’re regrouping in New York?” 

Tony nods. “Its closer. Pepper is informing various parties - including the FBI - that you were kidnapped. We’re looking at it as an attack on the Avengers Initiative.” 

His voice drops off as Darcy shakes her head. “No, no. It wasn’t about the Avengers. Asshole in Charge saw them as a figurehead for Stark Industries. It was you he was trying to get to Tony, so whatever he injected into me. He mentioned something about a meeting with Pepper and needing your help. I tried to keep him talking, but he wasn’t much with the villainous monologue. Sorry.”

Natasha’s arms envelop her. “You were amazing, milaya. We heard it all.” 

“He said something else weird. Just before he left…,” she frowns as she searches for what it was. It was important but not in the moment. “He knew my father!” She pulls away from Natasha and turns to Tony. He’s the one with the techy know how. “He compared me to my father, which means he knows my father.” 

Tony pulls up one of his projections. “I’ll add it to the search parameters.” 

“No, you don’t understand,” Darcy says, shaking her head. “I’ve never met my father. And I’m nothing like my stepfather, so it can only be my biological father he’s talking about. Which means he knows who that is. We need to do a DNA test.” 

The Avengers in the room exchange looks. 

“We’d still need someone to compare it to,” Natasha points out after a pause. “Until we do that, it’s not much help. We can run the SHIELD files, I guess, to see if we get lucky,” she adds when she sees Darcy’s face. 

Darcy, for her part, can’t shake the idea that she’s missing something. “The way he said it...it was like he thought…” that she was hiding who her father was and it was in connection with...She looks at Tony with a frown. 

“Asking Mom isn’t an option?” Sam speaks softly. 

Darcy grimaces. “She refused to talk about it. Only gave me vague answers. She died a couple years back, after I started at Culver. My step-father and I...we don’t really get along.” She looks at Stark again and tilts her head as she studies him. Honestly, it’s a bit ridiculous. They have a passing resemblance, she supposes. It’s all in the dark hair and caustic wit. But thinking her mother somehow met Tony Stark and slept with him is just preposterous. 

She turns away only to find Natasha looking studiously between the two of them. In the aftermath of a kidnapping that is not a question she wants answered immediately. There are more important ones anyway. 

“So this serum: it’s not going to make me blow up soon, right? Like are we talking minutes, hours, days? I mean, I assume days at least since he expects you to be able to do something, but you know what they say about assuming things. You make an ass of you and…” she trails off at the confusion on both Natasha and Tony’s faces. Sam is the only one to chuckle and she immediately points at him. “You, I like. We’re keeping you.” 

“Lady Darcy?” 

“Thor!” She throws herself at Thor and he wraps her in a hug, at least one person not to be put off by her state of undress. He’s warm and comfortable and she’d be delighted for Thor hugs at any time, but first: “Thor, wonderful, brilliant brother of my heart, please tell me you brought clothes!” 

He chuckles and holds out a bag. “My Jane assures me that these would be what you desire.” 

“You’re the best!” She looks around for somewhere to change and then realizes that she’s been standing around in her underwear, so it’s not like covering up requires privacy. She praises Jane as she pulls out her favorite leggings, an oversize shirt that she may or may not have stolen from Steve, and one of her cardigans with it’s signature comfiness. “Jane is a goddess.” 

Thor laughs. “I am glad to see you in good spirits, shield sister. I was most distressed to hear that you were taken. Where are your captors now?” Thor’s face turns cloudy - ha! Pun! - as he looks around the room, clearly discontent to find no enemies present. “Have they been disposed of, Man of Iron?” 

“They were gone before we got here.” Tony walks over and holds a bracelet out to Darcy. “Put this on.” 

She pushes her sleeve up her forearm and slides the bangle on. It immediately shrinks to fit her wrist and the blue design glows. “Uh, what exactly did you just give me?” It looks like one of his Ironman gauntlets. 

“It will allow JARVIS to track your vitals until we can get you to a lab in the Tower.” Tony sweeps up with his hand and a display pops out of her bracelet with heart rate, temperature and a whole body schematic. “Think of it as an advanced fitness accessory.” 

“Is this part of your suit?” She points at his conspicuously empty wrist. Tony doesn’t answer, just starts to guide her out of the room. 

It turns out the room they kept her in wasn’t actually a room. It looks like a set erected in the middle of a warehouse. There’s a forklift over by the garage door they must have brought her in by. There are large stacks of crates that jut in from the wall. It looks like the small room was created just for her benefit. She decides not to dwell on that unpleasant thought and returns her attention to the bracelet. “This isn’t going to test my DNA, is it? Cause that would be creepy, J-man.”

“Not without your permission, Director Lewis,” JARVIS says in her ear. “I have been asked to relay that Agent Barton wishes to put a moratorium on getting into trouble when he’s around the world.” 

“Well, you can tell Clint that trouble finds me,” she grumbles. “So how are we getting out of here? Because I’m assuming you all flew sans jet.” Thor, Ironman and Falcon. Really, only Black Widow is flightless and she’s likely to have hitched a ride with Sam. 

Natasha raises an eyebrow. “What was it you just said about assumptions?” 

Darcy grins. “If you tell me you brought a plane, you are my new favorite person.” 

A cat-like grin is her only response and Darcy slips her arm into the crook of Natasha’s elbow. “Thank God. I feel like I’m about to crash and I would hate to do that while waiting for a ride.” 

She emerges from the warehouse to a slowly lightening sky. She rubs her hands up and down her arms as she frowns at the warehouses and the name she remembered. “Stark…” 

“Whoever grabbed you has a sick sense of humor,” Tony comments. “They meant for you to be found. If not by us, then by the morning crew when they arrived.” He scowls around them before his attention returns to the folder in his hand. “They weren’t taking the chance that you’d be missing for long.” 

“Well, that’s not terrifying.” Darcy stumbles up the ramp and into the quinjet. She drops into a seat and closes her eyes. “I mean, they didn’t want to kill me, and they really weren’t trying to get information from me. Somehow this seems worse. They just used drugs to torture me to get information from Tony. Totally not as scary as you made it seem.” 

They all have to see through her bluff, but they’re kind enough not to call her on it.

“You did well, milaya. We start training again tomorrow,” Natasha calls from the pilot seat. 

Darcy groans. “Don’t I get a day off? I was kidnapped and experimented on!” 

“No training until we figure out what this is,” Tony interjects. “Consider yourself under observation, Lewis. No exertion until we figure out what they did to you.” 

“You heard the super genius,” Darcy says. She tips sideways into Thor when he takes over the seat beside her. His huge frame bugles out of his seat. He lifts his arms to wrap around her and Darcy settles into his embrace. It’s warm, safe, and feels like home. Her eyes drift shut. “Wake me when we get there.” 

Thor rumbles a response she assumes is affirmative as the jet lifts up. Despite how tired she feels, despite the fatigue that weighs down every limb, Darcy can’t drift off. Rather than sleep, she floats in that space between sleeping and waking, that in between state where she can hear the world around her and yet, absorbs none of it. 

The trip isn’t long enough for her to finally succumb to sleep and she feels the jolt of the quinjet as it lands on the roof of Stark Tower. Or Avengers Tower. Whatever they’re calling it now. 

She stands before any of the heroes around her get the bright idea to carry her somewhere. Her eyes are dry and she resists the urge to rub them constantly. 

“Lady Darcy, allow me to guide you to your chambers,” Thor rumbles beside her, a large hand hovering behind her back. “You are too tired.” 

“Med floor, Point Break,” Tony says. His hand cups Darcy’s elbow to guide her. 

Darcy yawns. “For the test stuff? Figure out the serum?” Her body veers towards Tony’s warm body, her words lethargic and slurred. 

“You got it, short stuff. I’ve already called in the big guns. We’ll figure this out.” Tony leans her against the wall of the elevator. Thor continues to hover and Natasha slips closer to wrap her arm around Darcy’s waist and keep her upright. Darcy leans into her with a hum. 

“Bruce is here?” Darcy asks, finally getting her eyes to cooperate and actually take in her surroundings. She sees Sam in the other corner, looking a bit awkward. “What’s the word, bird?” 

Sam stares back at her, unimpressed if a bit amused to judge by the twinkle in her eyes. “Should I chalk that up to sleep deprivation?” 

“If that makes you feel better,” Darcy agrees with a smile. She tilts her head back against the wall. “How are my vitals doing, J?” 

“All within normal parameters, Director Lewis.” 

Darcy watches Sam to see his reaction and is impressed to see that he continues to look unflappable. He spots her watching. 

“In the past few days, I met Captain America, became a fugitive and helped bring down a covert organization: it’s going to take more than a talking elevator to surprise me.” He smirks. “Although you and Steve are starting to make more sense.” 

“Short Stack and Capsicle?” Tony asks, turning. 

“None of your business,” Darcy cuts in before anyone else can respond. She points at Tony. “No.” 

“What? Mom and Dad are dating. That’s exciting stuff.” Tony claps his hands together with unconcealed zeal. 

“We’ll see,” Darcy says with a sigh. “That was before the whole Bucky is alive thing.” 

“What does that have to do with-oh,” Stark blinks as he absorbs the new information. Sam for his part doesn’t look surprised. Thor looks lost. “Huh, did everyone know about this?” 

“Know what, friend Stark?” Thor asks. 

Natasha rolls her eyes in response. Tony turns to Sam who stares him down. 

“I cannot be the last to know.” The doors open to Bruce and Clint. “Do they know?” 

“Know what?” Clint asks, even as his eyes look Darcy over. 

Darcy waves him off. “I’m fine. Well, mostly fine. There’s an injection thing that might give me superpowers or might make me explode. And a big bad guy knows who my biological father is. Now I get to be under observation, yay.” 

Understandably, Clint is less than reassured by that explanation. She throws her arms around him and hugs him tightly. 

“Thank you,” she whispers. “Without you…” 

“I know,” Clint responds as he squeezes her back. “I’m glad you’re okay.” 

“Me too.” She pulls back and then turns to the medical suite. “Okay! Let’s do this. I have a limited tolerance for needles, so let’s get this done as quickly as possible.”

* * *

Darcy wakes to shouting, surprised she actually managed to sleep after the tests finished especially with Tony’s signature music blasting through his hidden speakers. She made it to the couch in the corner, or maybe Tony moved her there. There’s a pillow and a blanket. She’s hidden from the door by a couple work tables and she has to prop herself up higher to get a good look at the disruptors of her nap. 

“Where is she?! Tony!” 

Darcy stretches as she recognizes the voice. There won’t be any going back to sleep now, not that Steve has arrived, the giant worrywart. She wraps her blanket tightly around her. It’s soft against her skin and probably worth more than what was in her college bank account. At least she assumes everything Stark owns costs a small fortune. 

She stumbles on sleepy limbs into view and smiles at Steve. “Here! I’m here.” 

Steve pushes past Tony and Darcy gasps as she finally gets a look at Steve. His face is covered in bruises that have rapidly gone from black and blue to yellow and green. He’s favoring his side and walking with a slight limp. 

He looks her over with that methodical stare as he walks up to her. Darcy expects him to go for the bone-crushing hug and is surprised when he lifts his hands to cup her face, his eyes searching her face for some sign. She runs her fingers over the splotches on his face. 

“You’re hu-” 

Steve cuts her off with a kiss. It moves from chaste confirmation that she’s really there to something deeper as she parts her lips in surprise. He pulls back a moment later and rests his forehead against hers, eyes closed in relief. His thumbs run across her jawline and down her neck. “You’re okay.” 

“I’m okay,” she agrees as she soaks in Steve and all the comfort just seeing he’s alive gives her. “You’re okay?” 

He nods shallowly against her. “I’ll be okay. When they grabbed you...I was terrified.” 

Darcy moves closer to wrap her arms carefully around Steve, just in case he’s hurt more than he’s letting on. He pulls her into him, one hand a band around her back and the other coming up to press her head into his shoulder as his own head drops to hers. He presses a kiss there and takes a moment to breathe her in. 

“Steve,” she whispers, eyes locking with Tony as he works on some screens with a diagram of the human body - her body, “there is something.” 

He pulls back and lowers her to the ground. He steps back so he can look at her, hands landing on her upper arms. “What is it? Talk to me, sweetheart.” 

“They wanted to get Tony’s attention.” She glances sideways nervously. “They injected me with something.” 

Steve turns to look at Tony with a question in his eyes. 

“Extremis. It’s a variation of, well...you.” Tony pulls up scans which include the old SSR files with a pre-serum Steve. “It’s not exact. It looks like the original application was to heal traumatic injuries and regrow limbs, but they created a supersoldier serum that likes to blow people up.” Another screen shows pictures that must be from the file her kidnapper left. 

Darcy folds herself more into Steve’s side and his arm presses her closer. 

“So what does that mean?” Steve asks, voice all business. 

“It means we’re monitoring her twenty-four-seven. Bruce and I are in the labs. We’ve got the most experience with the serum and I’m calling a couple people. Nat is working the other end, tracking the kidnappers.” 

“And the DNA test?” Darcy asks. They took enough blood for that, right? How long does it take to get one of those back? 

Tony glances at her, but he can’t maintain eye contact. 

She pushes away from Steve. “You got a hit. That’s somewhere to start, right?” 

“Like I said, Natashalie is on it,” Tony says. 

“Who is it?” Darcy asks. There’s something fishy about his inability to look her in the eye. “Tony. It’s someone big, isn’t it?” 

“DNA?” Steve asks, looking between them. 

“McStabby the kidnapper said I was like my biological father. Which is kind of a big deal since my mother never talked about him. Tony, who is it?” She walks around the table so she's looking right at him. 

With a sigh, Tony pulls up another screen. “We got a hit. 99.99% probability of paternity. It was a guess. Based on circumstances and what the comms picked up. And apparently mannerisms, personality, looks. Took all of about 5 seconds.” 

Darcy moves closer to the screen to stare at the two profiles which have been lined up to show the similarities with the match percentage in big bold letters. Only after does she look at the names: first hers and then… 

“Tony...” 

“Yup. Happy Father’s Day to me. Ran it three times while you were sleeping, in case you’re curious. Turns out I’m just as terrible a father as my own was. Good news: if you won’t blow up, you stand to inherit billions.” 

She turns to look at Tony, unable to form words. 

His levity evaporates and he turns towards her. “I’m having Pepper look into it. I…,” he shifts uncomfortably on his feet, “It would have been shortly after my parents died. I was pretty messed up at the time.” He looks like he wants to reach out but doesn’t know how. Darcy reaches out to squeeze his forearm. The muscles unclench as he relaxes. “Sorry, kid.” 

Darcy shrugs and offers him a tentative smile. “It’s fine. Not like you knew.” 

“But someone might have,” Tony says. “There was...you know about Stane?” 

The name tickles the back of her brain, back when Iron Man put Stark Industries at the top of the rumor mill. “He died in the fight before Iron Man when public.” She flips mentally back to the SHIELD reports. “He was in the other suit.” She turns to face Tony. “Coulson’s report said he orchestrated your kidnapping and tried to kill you multiple times.” 

Tony nods. “If Obi knew, it’s likely buried in Stark Industries records.” He looks sick talking about this. 

Darcy frowns. “So...what does that mean?” 

“It means we’re looking at a list of Stark enemies, programs that we’ve rejected, partnerships that fell through, that kind of thing. Pep’s creating a list.” 

“He claimed to work for the government,” she recalls. “And he mentioned a Doctor Hansen.” 

Tony nods. “JARVIS?” 

“Parameters adjusted. Might I suggest finding a sketch artist to speak with Director Lewis?” 

Darcy blinks. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” 

“I can help with that,” Steve says. His hand rubs circles into Darcy’s back as he steps closer to offer physical comfort. When Darcy and Tony turn questioning gazes on him, Steve shrugs. “SHIELD offered a course. I like to draw.” 

God, she loves Steve. He loves to draw, so he did the closest thing SHIELD would let him do. She smiles up at him. “I thought you said you signed up for an art class.” 

“I did.” 

“One that didn’t double as work?” 

He smirks. “At the local YMCA. Plus I took your advice and started posting them on that site.” 

“Tumblr?” She can’t hide her surprise. 

Steve’s smile softens. He tilts his head and runs fingers over her cheek to brush a curl behind her ear. “You know, contrary to what everyone may think I am capable of adapting to modern technology.” 

He fake winces at her playful arm slap, which earns him definite bonus points. “You’re supposed to tell me these things so I can follow you. What’s your username?” She reaches for her phone and then realizes that it’s gone. “Aw, no, phone. Now I have to buy a new replacement. My plan barely covered the last one.” 

Tony waltzes over and hands her a device. “There you go, kid. All your stuff uploaded per JARVIS. And let me know when you find that Tumblr account. I’m insulted you haven’t shared it yet, JARVIS.” 

“Would you also like Captain Rogers’ private Twitter and Instagram accounts?” JARVIS asks primly. 

Darcy snickers as Tony freezes. He points at her. “This is your fault. You’ve corrupted the Capsicle.” Then his face turns gleeful. “I am so proud. JARVIS, make note. The spawn is already corrupting national icons, national icons created by her grandfather. Howard would be rolling over in his grave.” He cackles and turns back to his diagrams. “Alright, Offspring, Spangles, go do your artsy thing. JARVIS will continue to monitor you. Bruce and I are on this.” 

Steve guides her from the room while Darcy’s still stuck on the casual references to her relationship to Tony, to Howard. There’s a whole family legacy, whole layers of meaning intertwined with her family history. Her mom didn’t have that. Jessie Lewis was a simple woman: a single mom who lived in Vegas, a deadbeat father she never knew. No siblings. She never went to college. She moved from boyfriend to boyfriend throughout Darcy’s childhood until she married a used car salesman who couldn’t care less about Darcy. There was no personal history there. No legacy. 

It’s like she got kidnapped and woke up in a different world. Isn’t that odd. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, interesting things are happening...I hope you liked this chapter. I know a lot of you were guessing who had grabbed Darcy. What do you think? Let me know! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	10. Meeting the Boyfriend

**Meeting the Boyfriend**

This isn’t the first time Darcy’s been to Steve’s Avengers Tower apartment. It was the go-to pop culture catch up spot because his pantry was always stocked with food and Tony was less likely to burst in and tease Steve relentlessly. She follows him into the space tentatively, her eyes looking around for some sign of Sam or Bucky. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else inside and she can’t hear anything. 

She can see the guest rooms’ doors open, a suitcase, a couple bags of new clothes that must have been delivered by a Pepper-sponsored fairy godmother. Steve heads right for the kitchen. He fills a cup with water and places it on the breakfast bar. His sketch pad is already sitting open on the kitchen table. 

Darcy wanders over to look at the open page. She reaches out to trace a finger along the planes of Bucky’s face. The eyes are black with paint, his face twisted in a scowl. The upper corner is a view from further away, a shot of the Winter Soldier stalking forward. 

“There was time on the flight back. I needed something to stop me from going crazy,” Steve explains as he passes her a glass of water. He flips back a page. Darcy is astounded to see her own face staring back at her. She smiles softly. 

“You drew me.” 

“I draw you all the time,” he confesses. He sits across from her and flips forward to a clean page. 

“You do?” She never found herself to be particularly artworthy. Sure, she can rock the right outfits with ease, but the images that Steve chose seem to be everyday moments...plus one from her TV interview. 

Steve’s grin is the definition of panty-dropping. He reaches across the table to grasp her hand. “You inspire me.” 

Words escape Darcy. All she can do is stare at Steve in shock. It’s possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to her. Her normal tactics of sarcastic and witty remarks fail her. She can’t look away from Steve. She could fall into his eyes...or his arms. There is no preference. Either works for her. 

They’re in his apartment. It would be easy - and oh so tempting - to take Steve to bed. It’s right down the hall. She imagines getting out of her chair, straddling Steve as she sits on his lap to kiss him until he picks her up and carries her to the bedroom where they- 

She coughs, turns her head to avoid Steve’s burning stare. Her eyes land back on the suitcase through the door. “So where’s Sam? Bucky? He came back with you, right?” 

Steve leans back in his chair. His gaze says he knows what she was thinking, but he goes along with her change of subject. “Yeah. Buck and Sam are on the medical floor. One of the conditions of the Avengers taking custody. He was worried about you.” 

“Me?” 

“Yeah.” Steve squeezes her hand. “He heard something apparently, dragged his therapist down the hallway. He was the one to raise the alarm, got Natasha on your trail. He wanted to go after you himself. He remembered you from the train.” 

“Huh.” She slouches in surprise. “Didn’t think I made that much of an impression on your boyfriend.” 

Steve frowns. “He’s not…” 

Darcy rolls her eyes. She looks at him fondly. “Steve, let’s just admit that him coming back from the dead is a mind trip and a half. It screws with a whole bunch of previously accepted norms and it’s not something that’s going to be resolved without a lot of conversation.” 

He runs his fingers along the palm of her hand. “You’re right. We will need to talk. All of us. Not now, but eventually.” He pulls back and picks up his pencil. “How about we start with the simple stuff?” 

“Right. Dr. McCreepy. How do we do this?” 

“You describe him. I’ll ask some questions, and then we’ll adjust the picture as necessary. Ready? Let’s start with the basics: eyes, hair, skin, any identifying features.” 

She spends the next half an hour trying to describe the man she remembers and critiquing Steve’s drawing until it resembles him. She’s still not completely satisfied. There’s something off. It’s not as accurate as Steve’s sketches usually are. It’s more lifeless, which she supposes makes sense considering he’s drawing it from her words. 

“JARVIS, can you run this against your list?” Steve asks, placing the pad in the center of the table. 

“With your permission, Captain, I will access your apartment’s security systems to scan the drawing.” 

“Go ahead.” Steve nods. 

“I shall let Mister Stark know the drawing is complete and inform you both of any potential matches.” 

“Thank you, J-man,” Darcy says. 

“My pleasure, Director. I have also sent the sketch to Miss Romanov.” 

The room falls into silence. Darcy sips at her water and wonders if she should try anything stronger, like the coffee she should be craving at this point. She takes the time to observe Steve. His bruises have faded even further than when she first saw him. 

“How are you?” 

He blinks at her. “I’m fine.” 

Her eyebrow raises. That can’t possibly be true. She knows it. 

“I’m healing,” he amends. “The ribs are...uncomfortable but it could have been worse. If Stark wasn’t there to take out the helicarriers, if Bucky hadn’t already recognized me…” Steve taps the pencil against the table in agitation. “We got lucky.” 

There’s a commotion by the door. Bucky bursts into the room, murder strut on full display. He makes a beeline for her. Steve stands and steps in front of her. Darcy rises from her own chair tentatively. 

“Steve, buddy, he’s okay. He just found out Darcy was here,” Sam says, obviously having followed Bucky into the room. 

Bucky stops when Steve’s hand lands on his chest but his gaze doesn’t leave Darcy as he looks her over. The look is intense, only slightly less lost than it was on the train. “You’re safe?” 

His voice is gruff, like he’s been screaming...or maybe from disuse. Either way, not happy thoughts. Darcy summons a smile. He’s obviously worried. “Yeah, I’m safe.” 

“HYDRA?” 

She shakes her head. “Nope. Someone new. Not a fan of their methods.” 

He nods. His jaw is still clenched, his muscles strung tight. 

“I heard you were worried.” Still no response. “The blood wasn’t mine. Well, most of it. I got a little banged up, but then he injected me with...something and voila! No scrapes!” She holds up her hands to demonstrate the non-existent injuries. 

Bucky’s face morphs from tense to horrified and he staggers back a step. The Winter Soldier vanishes in a moment. “Wh-wh-what?” 

She’s not the only one in shock. 

“Buck?” Steve questions. His demeanor changes from prepared warrior to concerned friend. 

Darcy puts the dots together first. “Oh, shit. Azzano.” She casts around for something to say. “It wasn’t...They only had me for what? A couple hours? No torture. I wasn’t a prisoner of war or anything. And I’m fine now. See? All in one piece. And Tony’s making sure I don’t blow up. All good.” 

Bucky and Sam both stare at her with wide eyes. Bucky backs up rapidly until he hits the wall and he hugs himself shaking. He slides down the wall. “They were too late.” 

Darcy moves forward slowly, hands to her side to make her less threatening. “Hey. Hey, Bucky, I’m going to be fine. Yes, the bad guys got me, but the good guys rescued me. Like Steve rescued you, right? And Tony’s working on figuring out what they injected me with. But it’s kind of like what Steve has. See this bracelet? They’re monitoring me, so if anything happens, the science guys will figure it out.” 

Bucky reaches out. His hand stops millimeters from the bracelet. His blue eyes are full of unimaginable sorrow as he holds her gaze. “They...they experimented on me. No one came.” 

Darcy sits on the floor in front of him. “When you fell off the train?” 

Sam lowers himself to crouch beside her and waves Steve back. 

Bucky nods. “They told me Steve was dead. No one was coming.” 

“But you survived, James,” Sam says softly. “You survived.” 

He stares at Sam. “I wouldn’t break, so they erased me. They turned me into a monster.” 

“You’re not a monster,” Darcy says firmly. “They made you do terrible things, but that is not who you are.” 

He looks skeptical. 

“I would trust her on this, man,” Sam says. “She’s about as stubborn as your boy, Steve, over there. You know who she is?” 

“Darcy Lewis, Director of the Avengers Initiative.” The answer is robotic, rote. He looks her over. 

She smiles kindly. 

“Which makes her the person overseeing your treatment,” Sam explains. “Not personally, but she’s kind of in charge around here. Got everyone wrapped around her finger as far as I can tell.” 

“Why, Samuel, you sure know how to flatter a girl.” She grins at him. “Tell me more about how amazing I am.” 

Bucky’s lips twitch. 

“Yeah, well, the brain damage is normal, as far as I can tell,” Sam teases. 

Darcy snorts. “Damage?” 

“How else do you explain you and Cap?” 

“Me and Cap?” 

“That much stubbornness is not normal.” 

“Serum made him taller. Still the same ol’ punk,” Bucky says with conviction. 

“Exactly.” 

* * *

“How are you holding up, sweetheart?” 

Darcy starts out of her waking dream to look at Steve. Bucky has retreated to Steve’s guest room and collapsed. The door is still open and she can just make out his legs where he lies on top of the covers, boots still on. 

“I didn’t think...I didn’t mean to...Jesus, that’s what the Nazi’s did to him, isn’t it? They took him and shot him up with some random shit, and I just casually threw it out there. No wonder he had a reaction.” She stares down at her hands. Bucky had been doing so well until she brought that up. “Sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault, darling. The events were just similar. That’s all.” Steve sits on the edge of the coffee table so he can face her on the couch. He reaches out and squeezes her knee. The smile he offers should probably be considered comforting but it’s layered in sadness. 

“A little more than similar, Steve.” Darcy stares at his hand and turns her attention to the glass of water still clutched in her hand as she wrestles with her guilt. She wants comfort from Steve and he just got back his best friend and former partner. He has more stuff to deal with than her petty insecurities. She should have left as soon as they had the sketch. “Maybe I should go…” 

“He was worried about you.” Sam returns from the hallway where he was making a call to a therapist friend. “You stuck in his head, broke some of the conditioning. The fight on the bridge shattered the rest of it. They had to wipe him again before the final attack at the Triskelion. It didn’t stick as well as it should have. Otherwise the fight would have been much worse. As it is, the brain damage...” 

Darcy scowls at the reminder of what she glimpsed in the files. She hadn’t had the time between news interviews, talking to politicians, and being kidnapped to go through the whole thing, but she certainly remembers a nasty looking chair and electric currents. She remembers the cryogenic tubes where he was packed away for years at a time. That anyone could treat a human being that way...it pisses her off. If she was a cartoon, there would be smoke coming out of her ears. 

“DARCY!” 

Steve’s shout accompanies a sharp pain in her hand. She stares in befuddlement at the shards of glass in her lap and the water slowly seeping into her pants. About the same time she processes the coolness of the water against her skin, Darcy feels the pain in her hand. 

Steve already has her hand cradled in his. There’s a large, nasty fragment of glass sticking out of the palm of her hand, with dark red blood starting to well around it. 

“Ow.” There should probably be more pain. As it is, the injury doesn’t seem to register. Darcy reaches for it, but Steve bats her hand out of the way. 

“Don’t pull it out. We should get you to medical. Jarvis, can you call the elevator?” Steve takes a dishtowel Sam hands him and tears it in half. Gingerly, he wraps them around her hand on either side of the glass. 

“Of course, Captain.” 

Steve turns to Sam. “Will you stay with Bucky?” 

Darcy pulls her eyes away from her hand to look at the bedroom again. Bucky is now in the doorway, knife in hand, staring at them with that cold, distant look. Sam mutters something to Steve and he responds, even as he guides Darcy into a standing position by her elbow. He keeps her injured hand in his to keep it stable. 

“You’re hurt.” Bucky’s knife disappears as he steps forward, gaze fixed on the glass sticking out of her wrapped up hand. 

She smiles at him. “Just a bit.” It really doesn’t hurt anymore, which seems suspicious. “Jarvis, you might want to let Tony know.” She takes a deep breath and steps away from Steve. “I don’t think we need to go to medical.” She braces herself for the pain and then yanks the shard of glass from her palm. 

All three men shout in alarm. Bucky somehow gets there first and presses down on the towels. 

“Shouldn’t have done that, Doll. It’s gonna need stitches.” 

“It doesn’t hurt,” she says instead. She puts the glass on the table. “It doesn’t even feel like it’s bleeding. It just...itches.” 

Sam rolls his eyes and mutters something about superhero types. Steve frowns and moves closer. Bucky’s brow furrows, but he stops pressing down on her palm and starts to unwind the towels. Once the first strip is gone, he quickly unwraps the other and they all watch as the faint red line completely fades back into clear white skin. 

There’s a drawn out moment of silence and then Steve just says “huh.” 

“Jarvis, tell Tony there’s a definite healing factor. However long it was from when I pulled the glass out to about a second ago.” Darcy turned her hand over. 

Sam picks up the shard of glass and frowns at the red blood on it. “Looks like it went in pretty deep.” 

“If you would, Miss Lewis, Sir would like a word,” Jarvis announces primly. 

“Tell him it was an accident, J. I didn’t hurt myself on purpose.” She runs her hand over the clean skin. 

“It’s hot to the touch.” Bucky runs his finger along the skin. The cool of the metal against her palm sends a shiver up Darcy’s spine. 

“Write that down, J. For science.” Darcy curls her hand into and out of a fist. The skin doesn’t pull like a scar or a scab. It’s as if the injury never happened. “I’m on my way down to the lab, but if this involves me cutting myself repeatedly, I’m going to have to say hell no.” 

“I’m going to have to second that,” Steve cuts in. His hand lands on the small of Darcy’s back. She contains her startled jump even as her eyes dart to his. 

“Science is a little more advanced than that, Director Lewis.” 

“Glad to hear we’re not verging into evil scientist levels here. Once human experimentation starts, I’ll have to start reporting that to the UN. Pretty sure that violates several human rights statutes.” Darcy frowns. “Does this mean you need to take more blood?” 

“Sir says he wants scans. The requisite equipment is in the lab.” 

“Cool. Didn’t tell Daddy Dearest, but needles make me nervous.” 

“Dad?” Sam asks. 

Apparently, Team America is escorting her to the lab. Team America being her new name for Steve, Bucky and Sam...and possibly Natasha. But she’s going to keep that nickname to herself. She can’t see some of the Avengers being impressed. 

“Guess who’s apparently the long-lost daughter of Tony Stark.” She grins at Sam who blinks in response. 

Behind her, Bucky glances at Steve. “Like Howard?” 

Darcy turns around. “Wow. Didn’t even think about that,” she mutters. She points at Steve. “You knew my grandfather. Hell, he helped turn you into you.” She shakes her head. “Talk about a mental trip. You know, this is going to hit me eventually and I’m going to freak out, but for now I’m just coasting. None of this feels real. When I crash, do me a favor and just wrap me in a blanket and let me sleep.” 

Steve pulls her back against him, wrapping his arms around her. Darcy settles into his embrace just as the doors open. Tony is right there on the other side. He steps into the elevator with a handheld scanner. He grabs her hand to scan and then walks away muttering. 

“Um, Tony?” Darcy calls. 

Like Jane on a Science!bender, he barely looks up. He’s already typing on some screen and moving holopanels around. Bruce sits at a table in the corner, looking through a microscope, surrounded by very science-y looking materials. Darcy picks up the discarded scanner and uses it to scan her other hand. 

Tony finally looks up when the new scan pops up on his screen. He blinks at her. 

“You scanned the wrong hand.” She wiggles the newly healed hand at him and then looks around the room, concerned. “Have you had anything to eat?” 

“Food is irrelevant.” Tony waves away the open screens. “JARVIS has a match for your sketch. This guy look familiar?” 

Darcy looks at the picture. She frowns at the screen as she steps forward. “That’s him. Who is he?” 

“Aldrich Killian. Tried to get Stark Tech to invest in some serum-related thing. Wanted to capitalize on Dad’s research with Spangles over there. We turned him down. Peggy Carter put an embargo on the serum after the end of World War II. There was no money in it. Any experiments since Erskine’s have gone terribly wrong in one way or another. No offense, Bruce.” 

Bruce Banner looks up from his work station. 

“Actually.” Tony spins around and points past Darcy. “Tin Soldier. You’ve got a serum.” 

Bucky takes a step back and Steve moves in front of him. “Stand down, Tony.” 

“I’ve got samples from Spangles and Mini-Me, but not you.” 

“Okay, no to that nickname. Also, no to taking samples without consent. Bucky’s had enough terrible things happen to him without permission. And on that note. Everyone not science!ing is going to sleep. You and Bruce are eating. JARVIS! Order some shwarma.” 

“Right away, Director Lewis.” 

Darcy turns to Bucky and waits for him to make eye contact with her. It takes a moment and even then his gaze keeps flitting back to Tony, apprehension written into the stiff way he holds his frame. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, okay, Bucky. You can say no at any time and Tony will stop. Right?” She turns to glare at the billionaire to reinforce her point. 

He steps back and holds his hands up in surrender. “I would really help. I’m just saying…” 

She narrows her eyes and tries to channel the unstoppable force that is Pepper Potts. She’s seen the goddess that is Potts rein Tony in with a look...and now that they’re related that is a train of thought she does not want to pursue. 

“No samples without consent,” Bruce says firmly from the back of the lab. “Trust me. Anything questionable happens and the other guy will have something to say about it.” His eyes flash green and Tony gulps. 

“See? Nothing to worry about. Anything happens that Bucky Bear doesn’t want and both the Winter Soldier and the Hulk will destroy whoever does it. Not that I was ever planning to do anything without permission. It just helps to have all the data.” Tony looks around the room. It could almost be called nervous, if Tony Stark would ever be nervous. 

Darcy sees him cover the nerves an instant later, distracted by something popping up on a screen. 

“There was a temperature difference,” he mutters. “Nice catch, Red Scare. Looks like whatever serum you got speeds up the cells to heal unnaturally fast, and the heat generated by that affects your system. And it’s not just the hurt area. Your whole body temperature rose. It isn’t targeted. Bruce.” 

Darcy frowns. She can’t follow them any further than the realization that her body is running warm right now. It makes sense when you look at other versions of superserum, mainly Steve’s. He runs hotter than normal. 

Speaking of Steve...Darcy leans back against Steve’s arm, slowly getting him to support more and more of her weight as sleep starts to pull her into its enticing embrace. Her eyes start to droop and she should probably use her last bit of consciousness to drag herself to her apartment so she can collapse on her bed instead of in Tony’s lab. Before she can summon the energy to do just that, Steve’s arm slips around her waist to support her better. 

“What do you say I get you back to your room, doll?” 

Darcy sleepily nods into Steve’s chest, humming in agreement. She doesn’t know where everyone else has gone or if they’re still nearby. She knows she walks back to the elevator and that Steve is still supporting most of her weight. She knows she makes it back to her room on her own two feet because her feet drag and she almost faceplants no less than three times. Steve is the one who keeps her moving and saves her from colliding with walls and doors alike. 

He offers to leave her to change into pajamas like the gentleman he is, but Darcy just collapses on the bed. She has just enough sentience to feel him taking off her shoes and marvels at just how comfortable she is with Steve. She’s safe with him. 

On that happy note, she surrenders to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I haven't forgotten about this fic! In fact, about 90% of it was written shortly after the last chapter and I just couldn't get the time/focus/muse to finish it. 
> 
> So we've reached the point where I'm not quite sure the direction this story will take next. I started this as an exploration of an idea and sort of stumbled upon some plot and maybe a bit of romance and now I'm trying to figure where we're going next. We've got a bit of Steve/Darcy/Bucky starting to happen if you squint. We've got Tony is Darcy's Father happening. Also Extremis. And movie chronology-wise I think we're closing in on Age of Ultron and the potential to throw out a lot of the MCU going forward...Basically, I'm figuring out what's next and how much more there is going to be, so it might be a bit until the next update. I didn't plan for this to be upwards of 50,000 words but here we are with no stopping point in sight and grad school on the horizon for me. If writing becomes my procrastination tool again, you might actually even see more updates. 
> 
> That is to say: Thank you so much for reading! And thank you for your patience with a scattered writer. I hope you enjoyed this update!
> 
> Until next time: stay safe and stay healthy.


End file.
